Puerto Rican soprano Alba Franco-Cancél continues to thrill audiences with her “pure, silvery, and bell-like sound” (San Diego Story) delivered with her “magnetic stage presence” and “outstanding acting skills” in both operatic and concert appearances.
Franco-Cancel has participated in over forty operatic productions, excelling in roles such as the Queen of the Night, Gilda, Musetta, Despina, Zerlina, Giannetta, and Frasquita. Recent appearances include her European debut as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera in Bari, Italy; the role of Sarah in La Llorona by Hector Armienta with Opera Cultura; Lucinda in Dark Sisters with Opera Fayetteville; Valencienne in Merry Widow with Pacific Opera Project; Barbarina with Livermore Valley Opera, and Despina with Opera Neo. In 2018, Alba returned to Los Angeles to perform the leading role in a Los Angeles Original Production of the mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. Other notable engagements include Tytania in Midsummer Night's Dream, the title role in La Calisto, Monica in The Medium, Flora in Turn of the Screw, Elle in the one-act opera La Voix Humaine, La Fee in Massenet’s Cendrillon, and María in West Side Story.
In concert settings, she has been seen as a soprano soloist in Mozart’s C minor Mass with the Puerto Rican Symphony Orchestra; Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; Mozart’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio; Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem; Renee Clausen’s A New Creation and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony among many others. She collaborated as a soloist with composer Raymond Torres-Santos in his album Guakia Baba, released in 2022. In 2023, she recorded a Christmas Special for mainstream TV programming in Puerto Rico, featured as soloist in Amaury Veray’s El Niño de Aguadilla. During the summers of 2023 and 2022 Franco-Cancel joined the touring opera company OperaMaya on their Yucatán Península tours Lo Mejor de mi Vida, and Aún más Fuerte, respectively.
During the lockdown 2020-2021, she was a Featured Guest Artist on Online Concert Series and Cabarets with several opera companies and orchestras, including Opera Fayetteville, Livermore Valley Opera, Opera Neo, Opera San Luis Obispo, and the Arequipa Symphony Orchestra in Peru. She also collaborated with the Department of Education of San Luis Obispo County, creating 20-minute segments of educational music content showcased on their YouTube page and local TV channels.
Recent awards include winner of Mundo Arts’ Latin American Art Song Competition, semi-finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and finalist in the American Prize Vocal Competition. Other awards include the Illinois Opera Theater Enthusiasts Award, twice recipient of the Bella Voice Award from the Bel Canto Foundation in Chicago, Finalist in the Classical Singer's Competition, and the Public Choice Award from the Metropolitan Opera Council Regional Auditions.
She has served as a visiting faculty member at Polytechnic State University, a faculty member at Cuesta College, a Teaching Assistant at the University of Missouri Kansas City, a guest teaching artist for the Rap Opera Project of Opera Cultura, and a teaching artist for the Classical Music Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
As a professor, her students have succeeded in numerous competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera regionals and Florida Grand Opera Voice Competition, and have been awarded scholarships to prestigious institutions such as Yale School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes School of Music. She is a co-founder and member of Duo Matices, a voice/piano duo committed to studying, performing, and disseminating Latin American art songs. The duo's mission is to commission, celebrate, advocate for, and educate through recitals, recordings, and masterclasses. Their album debut, MATICES, is scheduled to be released in Summer 2025.
Alba Franco-Cancél holds a Doctoral degree in Voice Performance from the Conservatory of Music of the University of Missouri, where her doctoral project explored Latin American and Iberian repertoire and performance practice. She also has a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois; and a Bachelor’s degree in Voice from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. In 2020 she earned a Vocology Certificate from the University of Utah and the National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS). She currently serves as a faculty member and Director of Vocal Studies at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music.
