MELISSA SONDHI, Soprano

Praised for her "charm" (San Francisco Chronicle-Datebook), for "time and again sing(ing) with a voice that is nothing short of wowing" (Theatre Eddys), her "remarkable dynamic range" (Operaville), her "warm and evocative" voice (Cordell Reports), her "verve and swagger" (Aisle Seat Review), and her "effortless performance" (Opera Tattler), Indian-American soprano Melissa Sondhi is an opera singer on the rise.

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Melissa began the 2026-2027 season debuting the role of Lisette in La rondine in Mercury Theatre's co-production with Pocket Opera. Later on this season, she will be returning to Opera San José, to debut the roles of Hodel in The Fiddler on the Roof and Frasquita in Carmen. During the 2025-2026 season, Melissa made her international debut singing in concerts in Tallinn, Estonia, and Busseto, Italy with Parma OperArt. She also made her Ars Minerva and role debut as Venere and Pasithea in the west coast premiere of Antonia Bembo's Ercole Amante, as well as a return to Pocket Opera to debut the role of Mariane in Tartuffe.

 

In the 2024-2025 season, Melissa returned to Opera San José for her second season as the inaugural Wadhwani Resident Artist, debuting the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and singing the role of Musetta in La bohème. She returned to Pocket Opera to debut the role of Mariane in Tartuffe, and also made her Feinstein's debut at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel, IN, performing her own solo concert.

 

In the 2023-2024 season, Melissa began her stint as the first ever inaugural Wadhwani Resident Artist, debuting the roles of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Gilda in Rigoletto, and covering the role of Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas. She also sang the role of Musetta in La bohème with Pocket Opera and Cinnabar Theater. In the 2022-2023 season, she made her San Francisco Opera Guild debut singing the role of Musetta in La bohème, and returned to Opera San José to sing the role of Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. She covered the roles of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Nannetta in Falstaff as well. She also returned to Pocket Opera to sing the role of Adele in their production of Die Fledermaus. In the 2021-2022 season, Melissa sang the role of Iza in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein with Pocket Opera, and also made her principle role debut with Opera San José singing First Witch in Dido and Aeneas. In the 2020-2021 season, she sang the role of Angelina in Lyric Theatre of San José's production of Trial by Jury. In the 2019-2020 season, she covered the roles of Ida in Opera San José's productions of Die Fledermaus and the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel. She also performed the roles of Le feu and Le rossignol in L’enfant et les sortilèges with Air Opera Collective. In the 2018-2019 season, she was seen as Giannetta in The Elixir of Love with Pocket Opera, Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, and Fiametta in The Gondoliers with Lamplighters Music Theatre. ​

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This past April, Melissa received an honorable mention at the Mimas International Opera Singer Competition in Naples, Italy. In 2025, Melissa was a semifinalist in the prestigious Loren L. Zachary competition, and in 2023, she won first place in the Adult Classical Voice category at the Los Angeles Semifinals of the Music International Grand Prix competition. Other competition accolades include being a semifinalist in the Orpheus Vocal Competition and a finalist at the East Bay Opera League’s Young Artists Scholarship Awards Competition.

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Melissa holds a BM from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (2015), and an MM from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (2017).