Erika Danielle Vasallo is a Cuban-American mezzo-soprano born and raised in Miami, Florida. Music has always been Erika’s true passion; she sees music as a beautiful art form that invites expression from the inside out and it carries universal messages which connects people from all walks of life.

In the upcoming 2024/25 season, Erika is thrilled to join Opera Orlando’s Studio Artist program. Starting in September, she will be featured in their Orlando premiere of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín. Erika will then make her company and role debut as an Apparition in Verdi’s Macbeth. Later on in the fall, she will be highlighted as a principal artist, singing the role of Judy in the world premiere of Spicer Carr and Rose Freeman’s Four Lost Santas. This comic Christmas opera will be paired with Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, which Erika will sing the role of the Mother. To close out the holiday season, she will debut as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches. In the new year, Erika will head back to Opera Orlando and portray the roles of Dorothée in Massenet’s Cendrillon, the Evil Stepmother in an abridged touring production of Massenet’s Cinderella, Kätchen in Massenet’s Werther, and Ursula in Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict. She will also cover the roles of Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, and Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana.

Last season, Erika returned as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the New Presbyterian Church Concert Series and debuted as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami. She then made her Magic City Opera debut as a soloist in their Valentine’s themed concert. In March, Erika sang the role of Grandma and Mother in Seymour Barab’s operatic version with a Miami Spanglish twist of the classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, with Orchestra Miami. She then rejoined Orchestra Miami for another fantastic outreach event, The Carnegie Hall Link Up Concert, where more than 3,500 public school students in grades 3-5 participated in the concert.

In her 22/23 season, Erika returned as a Tomita Young Artist with Finger Lakes Opera and sang the roles of Narrator and Cat in John Davies’ Pinocchio. She then returned as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Treasure Coast Community Singers and Chamber Orchestra. Erika also debuted as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the New Presbyterian Church Concert Series. In the spring, she was a Handorf Company Artist with Opera Memphis, where she was showcased throughout Memphis in a variety of performances for their “30 Days of Opera” program. While working with Opera Memphis, she also performed the role of Julia Child in Hoiby’s Bon Appétit! and the role of Toledo in Redler and Dye’s The Falling and the Rising. Erika then reprised the role of Julia Child with Orchestra Miami.

Erika’s 2021-2022 highlights included singing as a soloist in the orchestral world premiere of Ernesto Lecuona’s Rumba-Rhapsody along with the FIU Symphony Orchestra, pianist Tomas Tirino, the FIU Concert Choir, Encantus Voices, and Miami Children’s Chorus. She then debuted the role of Luisa in the romantic zarzuela Luisa Fernanda with La Zarzuela, Inc. Additionally, Erika was a soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Treasure Coast Community Singers and Chamber Orchestra. She then sang in the Fledermaus Champagne Trio with Orchestra Miami in their New Year’s Eve Celebration Concert. In 2022, She sang the roles of La Zia Principessa and La Frugola in a double bill of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Il tabarro with Taconic Opera, and Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Finger Lakes Opera.

Other prior credits include the roles of La Zia Principessa and Zita in a double bill of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi with Opera Fusion, the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and the role of Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Taconic Opera, Prince Orlofsky in J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte in the Emerging Artists Project series of Opera Fusion, and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Atelier. She counts among her highest honors singing for the legendary opera soprano, Madame Virginia Zeani, at her 88th birthday celebration.

Erika was a 2024 semi-finalist in The Georgia Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven 9 Vocal Competition. She was a 2023 district round competitor in The Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. Erika was a second round finalist in the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition and semi-finalist in the Camerata Bardi International Vocal Competition. Other awards include first place winner in the Florida Gold Coast NATS Competition, regional winner in the Classical Singers Vocal Competition, and regional finalist in the New York Lyric Opera National Vocal Competition.

Having graduated with her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Florida/New World School of the Arts College Division, Erika performed various opera scenes and the role of Volpino in Haydn’s Lo Speziale. Daniel Fernandez from The Miami Herald's - El Nuevo Herald edition wrote, "The highest laurels go to the mezzo Erika Vasallo, not only for the excellent display of her beautiful voice, but for her fun characterization as the male character Volpino." During her incoming year of her graduate program at Florida State University, Erika performed the role of Female Emilia in Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players. Through the Opera Outreach Program of FSU, she performed the role of the Mother in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. While at FSU, Erika also sang the role of The Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas during a summer cultural exchange program at the Gran Teatro Nacional de la Habana, where no American had sang on this international stage in over half a century. Erika received her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from Florida International University, where she also was on the staff as an Adjunct Voice Professor. While at FIU, she performed the role of Doña Francisca in Amadeo Vives’ Doña Francisquita and sang as a soloist in a concert of Handel’s Messiah.