Smith, Olivia

Soprano
(Penticton, British Columbia, Canada)

Canadian soprano Olivia Smith is currently a third-year Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, where last year her assignments included the roles of the First Lady in The Magic Flute and Micaëla in Carmen Encounter and covering Pamina in The Magic Flute and Micaëla in Carmen. She made her San Francisco Opera debut as the Voice of the Falcon in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten and later performed the role of Chrisann Brennan in Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and covered the role of Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore. Highlights of this season include a house and role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia and Pamina with Opera Naples.

Smith was a participant in the Merola Opera Program in 2022, where she appeared as Margarita Xirgu in scenes of Golijov’s Ainadamar and as Leila in an excerpt from Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles and covered the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.

A recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Smith performed the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with Curtis Opera Theater and Marguerite in excerpts of Gounod’s Faust with Curtis Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additional roles include Cathleen in Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, First Witch in Dido and Aeneas, and Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium.

Smith has received recognition from Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition, with both the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and the Online Viewers’ Choice Award. She was the First-Place winner in Opera Grand Rapids’ VanderLaan Prize competition and received an encouragement grant from the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers.