Ross Benoliel

In recent seasons baritone Ross Benoliel added two important international engagements to his already impressive list of credits; with Opera Hong Kong, he debuts as Schaunard LA BOHÈME, and with the Lyrique-en-Mer Festival in France as Guglielmo COSÍ FAN TUTTE.  Since then he has returned to Lyrique-en-Mer to perform the roles of Dr. Malatesta DON PASQUALE and Marcello LA BOHÈME.  Praised for his "warm and well-focused baritone voice," Ross Benoliel was an invited international finalist in Placido Domingo's OPERALIA competition held in Valencia, Spain in October 2006.  Following concert engagements in Germany during 2007, he made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall, for which he was praised for his "large voice", "astonishingly good German" and his "fresh reading" of leider by Hans Eisler.  He debuted with New York City Opera as Sciarrone TOSCA during the spring of 2008 and later participated in the company's concert production of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.  Also during the 2008-2009 season Mr. Benoliel performed the role of Schaunard LA BOHÈME with Tulsa Opera and with Opera Omaha as well as the role of Marcello in the same opera with Opera East Texas.  Recently Mr. Benoliel sang the role of Figaro IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA and was a soloist for the Italian Pops concert at New Jersey State Opera.

In recent seasons baritone Ross Benoliel added two important international engagements to his already impressive list of credits; with Opera Hong Kong, he debuts as Schaunard LA BOHÈME, and with the Lyrique-en-Mer Festival in France as Guglielmo COSÍ FAN TUTTE.  Since then he has returned to Lyrique-en-Mer to perform the roles of Dr. Malatesta DON PASQUALE and Marcello LA BOHÈME.  Praised for his "warm and well-focused baritone voice," Ross Benoliel was an invited international finalist in Placido Domingo's OPERALIA competition held in Valencia, Spain in October 2006.  Following concert engagements in Germany during 2007, he made his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall, for which he was praised for his "large voice", "astonishingly good German" and his "fresh reading" of leider by Hans Eisler.  He debuted with New York City Opera as Sciarrone TOSCA during the spring of 2008 and later participated in the company's concert production of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.  Also during the 2008-2009 season Mr. Benoliel performed the role of Schaunard LA BOHÈME with Tulsa Opera and with Opera Omaha as well as the role of Marcello in the same opera with Opera East Texas.  Recently Mr. Benoliel sang the role of Figaro IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA and was a soloist for the Italian Pops concert at New Jersey State Opera.

On the international concert stage Mr. Benoliel has appeared in CANDIDE at the Konzerthaus in Vienna which was subsequently revived the following year in Bremen and Munich.  On the concert stage Mr. Benoliel has recently performed in Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle with the Lyrique-en-Mer Festival and Orff Carmina Burana with the Rockland County Choral Society.

During the summer of 2007, Mr. Benoliel performed with Ash Lawn Opera Festival as Schaunard LA BOHÈME, a role he later reprised for Madison Opera.  Other operatic roles performed by Mr. Benoliel include Marcello LA BOHÈME, Belcore L'ELISIR D'AMORE, Harlekin ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Thomas Putnam THE CRUCIBLE, Aeneas DIDO AND AENEAS, the High Priest SEMELE, the Speaker DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, Colonel Calverly PATIENCE, Guglielmo COSÌ FAN TUTTE, Figaro IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Valentin FAUST, Count Almaviva LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and Mercutio ROMÈO ET JULIETTE.  He premiered the role of the Reverend John Wilson in Margaret Garwood THE SCARLET LETTER.

Companies that Mr. Benoliel has performed with include the New York Philharmonic, Glimmerglass Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Portland Opera (Oregon), American Opera Projects, Center for Contemporary Opera, Salt Marsh Opera, Pine Mountain Music Festival and the Lake George Opera Festival.  He has been a featured recitalist with the Monmouth Civic Orchestra, Ocean City Pops and Opera of the Hamptons.

Mr. Benoliel was a prize winner in the Liederkranz Vocal Foundation Competition in 2008, a semi-finalist in the 2006 Metropolitan Opera New England Regional finals and was a finalist of both the 2006 and 2005 Jensen Foundation Competition and the 2004 New England Regionals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  He was the recipient of the 2004 and 2003 encouragement award from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, recognized as a national semifinalist in 2000 of the MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers and as a finalist in 1998 of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Prize in Voice.