Lyric coloratura soprano Francesca Merritt began singing at the age of two and later studied voice with a local teacher who quickly discovered that she had operatic potential. Her professional debut came at age 16 as a church cantor for the historic Old North Dutch Reform Church in Dumont, NJ (est. 1724), and earned a choral scholarship at the age of 17 from the First Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood, NJ (est. 1823). In college, she concentrated her study in opera and classical art song at Washington University in St. Louis, graduating magna cum laude. She also performed early music and opera abroad in Italy with Orvieto Musica and studied art song, oratorio, and opera with Martin Katz and Graham Johnson OBE at University of California at Irvine. After graduation, Francesca studied under master teacher Joshua Hecht, a protégé of the American opera great Rosa Ponselle. While in New York, Francesca appeared as a young artist with DiCapo Opera Theatre and performed roles throughout the NY metro area. She garnered a grant from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) for her Off-Broadway One Woman cabaret show. Francesca made her international debut as Blondchen in Mozart’s Abduction with the Opera at Rutgers Presbyterian Church; a performance that aired on both the BBC International network as well as the RCN regional network based out of New York City. In addition to classical music, Francesca is an accomplished songwriter, lyricist, and poet. In 2024, Francesca along with her son Augie, received a Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Grant from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. This grant allowed her to establish Angelini Publishing, an independent publishing company which will produce books of poetry, songs, comics, and graphic novels. Francesca is the soprano 1 section leader at Church of the Redeemer, Bryn Mawr. Francesca is advocate for positivity in music and song, which she details on her blog at freedomangelsoprano.com.