Soprano CALISTA SMITH’s 2026 season is off to an exciting start, with her having been selected as a District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s North Carolina District. She advanced to the Southeast Regionals in Atlanta in February, where she won an Encouragement Award. This summer, Calista was a studio artist with Wolf Trap Opera, where she made her professional debut as the Shepherd in Tosca at the Filene Center and also prepared the role of Clorinda in La Cenerentola and sang in the ensemble of Eugene Onegin. She also sang Zerbinetta and Lucia in scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos and The Rape of Lucretia in Wolf Trap Opera’s Studio Spotlight. In the fall, Calista will be the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Solemn Vespers and Tariq O’Regan’s Critical Mass (East Coast premiere) with the City Choir of Washington. Calista also spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival, where she sang the German Woman in Jimmy Lopez’s Bel Canto and covered Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. While in Aspen, she also sang Zerlina, Gilda, Adina, and Frasquita in scenes from Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, L’elisir d’amore, and Carmen, participated in multiple masterclasses with Renée Fleming, Myra Huang, and Patrick Summers, and premiered three original works in collaboration with the composers. In 2025, Calista covered the soprano solo in Mozart’s Requiem and sang Fiordiligi in scenes from Così fan tutte at CCM. Earlier this year, she sang Susanna and Donna Elvira in scenes from Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni at CCM. Calista has also won the Joyce Van Cura award from the American Opera Society of Chicago and an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s San Diego District. In Europe, Calista has sung Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi in Rimini, The Dew Fairy in Hänsel und Gretel in Berlin, the Vixen in scenes from The Cunning Little Vixen in the Czech Republic, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro in Vienna. She is also a GRAMMY-award winner from her time in the chorus of Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony. 

Currently, Calista is about to be a second year master’s student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studies with Gwen Coleman. Calista graduated from Northwestern University in December 2024, where she studied with Pamela Hinchman and earned dual degrees in voice and communications. While at Northwestern, she sang Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Cendrillon in Cendrillon, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Oberto in Alcina, and the soprano solo in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major.

Calista is deeply passionate about telling stories onstage. Raised in Houston, Texas, she comes from a musical family and played the violin and piano for 15 years. She thanks her family, friends, coaches, and teachers- always.