Frankian, Alexa

Soprano
(Oakville, Ontario, Canada)

Canadian soprano Alexa Frankian is a first-year Adler at San Francisco Opera, where this season she performs Klytemnestra’s Trainbearer in Elektra, Mary Fleming in Mary Queen of Scots, and Mimì in Bohème Out of the Box, and covers Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. Hailed by Opera Canada as “abundantly talented” and praised for her “radiant, surging sense of purpose” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Frankian brings to the stage a rare fusion of youthful freshness and interpretive depth.

In 2024, Frankian joined the Merola Opera Program, debuting as a “simple, unaffected, and beautifully sung” Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème. Her performances drew acclaim for their emotional honesty and musical richness, including her “voluptuously rich Russian” in the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. Invited back for a second Merola season in 2025, she expanded her repertoire with excerpts as the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, and Fidelia in Puccini’s Edgar.

As a Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Frankian has performed roles including Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Suzel in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz, and Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. She has also distinguished herself in contemporary opera, appearing in the North American premiere of the Yiddish opera Bas Sheve and the Dora-nominated world premiere of Alice Ho’s The Monkiest King.

Frankian has received Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in both the Philadelphia and Buffalo-Toronto Districts and was the youngest finalist and third-prize winner at the 2023 Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. A graduate of the University of Toronto, where she earned a Bachelor of Music, and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, where she earned an Artist Diploma, Frankian’s operatic credits also include Madame Lidoine in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Older Woman in Dove’s Flight, and Coach in Chan Ka Nin’s chamber opera Ice Time.