biography
The San Francisco Chronicle exclaims, “For theatrical charisma and musical bravado, it would be hard to top the performance of baritone Efraín Solís.” In the 2025-26 season, he makes his Metropolitan Opera debut as Salvador Dalí in the world premiere of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. He also sings his first performances of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with North Carolina Opera, the title role of Don Giovanni with Annapolis Opera, Argante in Rinaldo with West Edge Opera in addition to joining the Phoenix Symphony for Handel’s Messiah. Last season he made debuts with Santa Fe Opera and Dallas Opera as Schaunard in La bohème and returned to Dandini in La ceneretola with Fort Worth Opera and Houston Grand Opera. He also reprised his sought-after portrayal of Mark in Cruzar la cara de la luna with Opera San Antonio.
He is a graduate of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship and while with the company, sang his first performances of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dandini in La cenerentola, Schaunard in La bohème, Silvano in Un ballo in maschera, Sciarrone in Tosca, and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly and recently returned to the company for Thierry, Le medicin, and the Jailer in Dialogues des Carmélites.
Mr. Solís made his European debut as Dandini in La cenerentola at the Staatsoper Hamburg. He has joined Minnesota Opera, Austin Opera, Houston Grand Opera’s HGOCo, New York City Opera, El Paso Opera, and Opera Santa Barbara for previous performances of Mark in Cruzar la cara de la luna and also sang his first performances of Laurentino in the same title with West Edge Opera. With Florida Grand Opera, Virginia Opera, and Opera San José, he sang Charlie in Heggie’s Three Decembers. Other recent performances for the baritone include Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Utah Opera, Opera Carolina, Virginia Opera, Opera San José, and Toledo Opera; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with the Santa Rosa Symohony; and Lieutenant Audebert in Puts’ Silent Night and Escamillo in La tragedie de Carmen, also with Utah Opera. He has sung Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Memphis, Opera Delaware, Opera San José, and Livermore Valley Opera; Malatesta in Don Pasquale and Germano in La scala di seta with Opera Santa Barbara; Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with Opera San José; Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande with Opera Southwest and West Edge Opera; Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with Hawaii Opera Theatre and Charlottesville Opera, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with Opera San José, Di Cosimo in Catán’s Il postino with Virginia Opera; Slook in La cambiale di matrimonio with Philharmonia Baroque; El Payador in Piazzola’s Maria de Buenos Aires with Opera Southwest, the Father in Turnage’s Coraline and Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox with West Edge Opera; Fiesque in Maria di Rohan with Washington Concert Opera, Gaspar in Rita with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and Dick in Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock with Opera Saratoga.
Mr. Solis sang his first performances of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Palo Alto Philharmonic and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem as a guest artist at Concordia College. He has joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and New Choral Society for Handel’s Messiah and the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra for Britten’s War Requiem and both Las Vegas Philharmonic and New Choral Society for Handel’s Messiah. His debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the Peasant in Schönberg’s Gurrelieder was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. An active recitalist, he has debuted with San Francisco Performances, joined the New York Festival of Song for multiple programs of Spanish repertoire and has sung a solo program of Granero and Turina with the Cincinnati Song Initiative. He has been presented in a Schwabacher Debut Recital in San Francisco and offered an additional recital program at the El Camino College Center for the Arts.
He is an alumnus of the prestigious Merola Opera Program, at which at the age of twenty three he sang Junius in The Rape of Lucretia and covered Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. He is also a former member of Opera Santa Barbara’s Studio Artist Program. In 2013, he was a Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and sang arias from Rodelinda and Le nozze di Figaro on the famed company’s stage with Marco Armilianto conducting. He was also a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Eleanor McCollum Competition and the Loren L. Zachary Society for the Performing Arts National Vocal Competition. He holds a Master of Music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, at which he sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and while at Chapman University, his performances included Beethoven’s Mass in C and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.
Chanson Romanesque with guitarist and arranger
John Charles Britton. Video: Scott Draper
Reviews
“The piece turns on Laurentino himself, in all his life stages, and baritone Efraín Solís created yet another in the series of impeccably etched performances that have marked his career in the Bay Area. His Laurentino was by turns cocky and remorseful, and conveyed throughout by singing of lustrous presence.”
“At the center of the production are two glorious performances by Efraín Solís in the title role and Maya Kherani as Susanna...both possess gorgeously expressive voices and warm and uncommonly winning stage presences. They sang beautifully throughout, bringing nuance and a lively musicality to Mozart’s melodies while clearly articulating the text and playing the underlying emotions.
Solís was particularly effective in his plaintive, tragicomic Act IV recitative and aria, “Tutto è disposto / Aprite un po’ quegli occhi” and followed that up with some deft, silent comic antics. [Kherani] and Solís have a level of connection and chemistry that is rare in the world of opera and gives their scenes a wonderful sense of spontaneity. They are the very antithesis of the old-school “park and bark” style of opera performers.”
“Efraín Solís’s honey-hued baritone gives Gil a softness and charisma that allows the audience to understand why Susanna would stay married to a man who doesn’t want her to leave the house and from whom she has to hide something that brings her joy. In their solo moments, Becerra and Solís command the screen, and together, they have a wonderful, effortless chemistry that would be impossible to fake.””
“Efraín Solís is a sympathetic Charlie. His large, evenly produced baritone can manage fierce declamation and warm-toned lyrical arioso without strain. He made the listener feel both the character’s desperation and frustration and sadness at his mother’s lack of empathy.”
“With his grounded, colorful baritone and natural boyishness, Efraín Solís makes Charlie the kind of little brother you want to coddle, but who is plenty strong on his own. Solís is especially moving mourning Burt’s death, twisting his commitment ring indecisively while packing away his partner’s clothes. He and Kherani shine in their scenes together with a natural rapport that makes their relationship feel real.”
“In particular, was the portrayal of French Lieutenant Audebert by baritone Efraín Solís. While somberly naming a list of the dead and wounded, his thoughts continually return to his wife and unborn child. Solís’s portrayal was easy to watch, refreshingly real while still being readable for audience members in the back of the hall. His voice came easy and he navigated the upper ranges of his baritone voice with tenor-like grace.”
“With his warm, flexible baritone and good looks, Solís’ Charlie is especially compelling. Grief-stricken when his long term partner dies of AIDS, he is the picture of youthful bewildered sorrow. In one shot, an overhead camera looks down on his curled-up body. He is small and helpless, the very essence of humanity under siege. The shot tells us something valuable about a world in the time of AIDS, Covid-19, or whatever woe the future might bring. It’s an image I can’t get out of my head.”
“Baritone Efraín Solís movingly reveals the poetic soul of French Lt. Audebert.”
“At the fulcrum was baritone Efraín Solís’ incendiary performance as Golaud - brother to Pelléas, husband to Mélisande and somehow both the protagonist and a sidelight in someone else’s tale. In singing of muscular vividness, Solís brought the audience into the reality of his plight without ever making excuses for Golaud’s abusive behavior.”
“Baritone Efrain Solis as Mercutio, Romeo’s second, lends plenty of drama and talent to the production—notably Solis’ rendition of the “Mab” aria.”