Praised by the Houston Press as “astonishing… exquisite all evening, hypnotizing us with flawless intonation, diction, and emotional wallop” and by LA Opus for her “large, lovely, and vibrant voice,” Colombian-American soprano Oriana Geis-Falla has a blossoming career in the opera world.
In the 2024–2025 season, Oriana began with a role debut as Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera in the Heights, earning enthusiastic reviews. The Houston Press wrote “for an opera singer, she’s the complete package, a star.” BroadwayWorld likewise praised her portrayal, describing her Act III mad scene as “15 uninterrupted minutes, singing for the high heavens… one can feel yourself vibrating with her energy… If anything is worth the price of a ticket, it is Falla’s phenomenal performance.”
Following Lucia di Lammermoor, Oriana appeared with Opera Southwest as Angela, in the world premiere of Llantos 1492 by Adam del Monte. Currently, she is involved in a world premiere outreach opera at the Ebell Wilshire Theater, We Can Do It by Brooke de Rosa.
Additionally, Oriana lent her voice for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s new show, The Encore, streaming on Peacock. Passionate about helping others, she also gave a gala benefit concert with Fundación Sanar in Pereira, Colombia, raising money for children fighting cancer.
During the 2023–2024 season, Oriana portrayed Ana María in Zorro in its West Coast premiere with Opera Santa Barbara. She performed a recital alongside Brian Holman for the Oracle Piano Society, sang as soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, presented a Zarzuela concert with Palm Springs Opera Guild, performed in Fiesta Latina with Opera Las Vegas, and served as a back-up singer for Ely Guerra with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also covered Carla Lucero’s world premiere of Chicanísima! and performed two leading roles with the Opera Buffs—Luz in Las Auténticas by Ben Morris and Eden in Galaxies by Mark Lanz Weiser.
In the 2022–2023 season, Oriana joined Actor’s Equity with her performance as Mrs. Anderssen in A Little Night Music at the Tony Award-winning Pasadena Playhouse. She made her role debut as Adina in L’elisir d’amore, singing with Pacific Opera Project and Opera in the Heights. One review exclaimed, “What a voice, again rich and vibrant, with an effortless ability to scale Donizetti’s complex bel canto.” Her voice also features on Adam del Monte’s album Transcendence Through Sound: Meditation for World Peace, and she recorded demos for Yuval Ron’s project, Four Medicinal Plants for Sleep: Uchosihi (Breathe).
Her 2021–2022 season engagements included the Concert for Peace organized by the Washington Concert Society and a soprano soloist appearance in Handel’s Messiah. Oriana also recorded for Disney’s Encanto soundtrack and participated in a table read and recording of Marian, an original musical inspired by the life of the renowned contralto Marian Anderson.
In December 2020, Oriana debuted Mimi in Pacific Opera Project’s drive-in performances of La Bohème. She made role debuts as Violetta in La Traviata with New Rochelle Opera and as the Infanta in Der Zwerg with Numi Opera Theater prior to that.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Oriana pursued her education at UCLA under the guidance of renowned baritone Vladimir Chernov. While at UCLA, she was featured as soprano soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at Royce Hall, performed the soprano solos of Orff’s Carmina Burana with the UCLA Philharmonia, and portrayed La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon. Shortly after her time at UCLA, she received a grant from the Opera Buffs, performing Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, and was a soloist with the Long Beach Camerata Singers in Orff’s Carmina Burana and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem.
Oriana now calls Laguna Beach home, where she lives with her husband, tenor, Arnold Livingston Geis, and their cat, Dimpy. She continues her vocal studies under internationally acclaimed soprano Joyce El-Khoury. Oriana is a member of AEA, and co-founder of Opera Laguna.
“She proved to be a vivid actress and deployed a darkish, strong soprano capable of lovely soft singing and bright top notes. ”
“The principal roles of this production are filled with performers who are experts in their craft. It is sometimes rare in the Opera world to find singers with superior acting abilities. However, Opera in the Heights has cast some fantastic people. In the challenging title role of Lucia soprano, Oriana Falla does a masterful job. Falla left many speechless, mainly as her character deals with the tumultuous nature of being confined to a potentially loveless marriage and the perceived betrayal of her love from her family’s enemy, Edgardo. Falla was breathtaking, and her chemistry with both on- and off-stage partners was a sight. During the Act I duet with Edgardo, it was impossible not to feel the energy from Falla as she sang about her undying love. However, Falla shines the most in her Act 3 “mad scene,” where for 15 uninterrupted minutes, Falla is singing for the high heaves, and in the intimate space that is Lambert Hall, one can feel yourself vibrating with her energy. If anything is worth the price of a ticket, it is Falla’s phenomenal performance.”
“Falla was exquisite all evening, hypnotizing us with flawless intonation, diction, and emotional wallop. With Hollywood stage presence, she’s also quite a beauty. Even dressed in a hideous wedding costume of puffed white sleeves appended to her tartan skirt with a bejeweled cloche hat like a Roaring ‘20s flapper, she dazzled. For an opera singer, she’s the complete package, a star.”
“Her voice is large, lovely, and vibrant, and she sang her solo with moving conviction.”
“Ms. Falla was a smirking force with a rich voice.”
“The soloists the other day were excellent... Oriana Falla a vibrant soprano”
“Soprano Oriana Falla’s stunning red dress, didn’t distract from some extraordinarily spectacular vocalism... Falla scaled the insane heights of ‘Dulcissime’ with ease while supplying a meltingly lovely ‘In trutina.”
“What a voice, again rich and vibrant, with an effortless ability to scale Donizetti’s complex bel canto. She’s a veteran of Pacific Opera Project’s Elixir last season, and she, too, is destined to become a star. She’s a looker, too, in her A-line dresses and red-and-cream patent shoes, with hair pulled back in soft pony tail. She’d turn heads in any era. ”
“One can only hope that Arnold Geis, who sang Rodolfo, and Oriana Falla, who was Mimi, are set on major careers. They both sang with rare clarity; Geis’ soaring high notes, delivered without perceptible strain, have that quality all too rare in opera – they are trumpet-like – and suggest more heroic roles lie in Geis’ future. Meanwhile, Falla sung with a purity that was so palpable, it even invested the deliberately drab sets with a touch of poetry. “Mi chiamano Mimi” was slightly arch, so that one wondered if Mimi’s tendency to flirt rather than feel might be a possibility, but Falla hit those emotional depths in act 3 with “Donde lieta”, which made this the most heart-wrenching moment in the performance.””
“Soprano Oriana Falla effectively took us through the Infanta’s process from fascination with her “gift” to disgust and ultimately to obliviousness. Zemlinsky directs the Infanta to sing her last line as “childlike and naïve.” “Ich tanze weiter” (I can keep dancing) sang Falla on discovering the dwarf was dead, tossing it off so lightly that we could truly believe she would turn so easily to the next distraction.”