Alyssa Nicole Samson (she/her) is an accomplished Vancouver-based Filipino-Canadian mezzo-soprano passionate about advocacy through contemporary/new music. Notably, she is driven by her belief that classical music can make an impact that transcends beyond traditional performance settings. This is evidenced by her breadth of experience leveraging music to advocate for marginalized voices, share contemporary stories about pivotal societal issues, and build community between musicians and non-musicians alike. This passion for unity has brought her opportunities to perform internationally in Portugal, Italy, Spain, Austria, and the United States, in addition to working with musical communities across Canada. On the operatic stage, Alyssa is committed to a fiery stage presence to every role she brings to life. In the 2023-2024 season, she reprised the role of Mrs. XE in Angel’s Bone with (Loose Tea Music Theatre and Sound the Alarm Music Theatre) in Toronto and role debuted Shi Ping in Emily Pan’s Thunderstorm (Canadian Dramatist Society) in Vancouver. An artist keen on creating and collaborating on new works, Alyssa worked with Re:Naissance Opera to workshop Eurydice Fragments as Cerberus 1 and will workshop a new Canadian opera as Medusa/Melpomene in Monster’s Made with Good Mess Theatre in Winnipeg this coming June 2024.

 

In addition to her time on the operatic stage, Alyssa’s current focus is on exploring themes of identity in her own life using Filipino Kundiman as a platform to develop the meaning of being a second-generation Filipino-Canadian artist. Alyssa is also the assistant