Puerto Rican-born dramatic mezzo-soprano Frances Mitchem-Diago is a Washington, DC/Northern Virginia-based opera performing artist. She received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at George Mason University under the guidance of Dr Kathryn Hearden. Her powerful, idiosyncratic voice has been described as having a rare, rich mezzo quality and she is an intuitive actor with good, strong instincts. In addition to opera, she enjoys singing standards and jazz songs at weddings and other events and she recently had the wonderful opportunity to record a Schubert Lied for an upcoming independent short film called Patricia Says Goodbye. Recent roles performed include La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica by Puccini, Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Queen of the Faeries in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe. Other roles sung include The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Katisha in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, and La Frugola from Puccini’s Il Tabarro.
At the end of 2020, Frances became an Ambassador for the Barcelona Festival of Song. She is thrilled to represent the vast and lesser-known, beautiful Latin American and Iberian vocal body of repertoire through content-sharing, performance, and by connecting with other singers and musicians throughout the world.
