Sonia Essin (born September 24, 1901, in Chernihiv;[1] died August 7, 1981, in Los Angeles)[2] was a Jewish-American contralto and educator who had an international career in operatic and classical music.

[6] She spent some years there and in Germany performing in opera productions at Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and in solo concerts, but was back in the United States by 1932.

[5][10] She subsequently continued her broadcasting career on other stations such as WQXR[11] In 1943 she was engaged by the Handel and Haydn Society to solo in that year's presentation of Messiah.

[6] She was heard singing Wagnerian material by Arturo Toscannini, and at his invitation Essin made her debut at La Scala in 1948, performing the role of Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde.

[7] In a similar vein, Arthur Darak of the Cincinnati Enquirer called her a "bona-fide" contralto, espousing her the expression, intelligence, and warmth of her voice which he stated overcame the limited variety in her repertoire.