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The American baritone, Armando Contreras, He is also a graduate from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where he received the Fredrick B. Prentice Award for Excellence in Voice. At CIM, he sang the leading baritone roles of Papageno, Bartley in Riders to the Sea, and Il Conte in Il Matrimonio Segreto. He recently received his Master of Music degree in Opera Performance at the University of Missouri- Kansas City (UMKC) studying under Vinson Cole (2014-2016). In 2016, he was the winner of the Celestial Opera Vocal Competition, Brena Hazzard Scholarship Competition with Mu Phi Epsilon, Naftzger Competition in the Vocal Division, UMKC Concerto Competition and the Kansas City Mu Phi Epsilon Music Competition. In 2015, he was the recipient of the Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in the Midwest Region.
Armando Contreras made his professional opera debut in July as Peter McCourt in Central City Opera’s Ballad of Baby Doe where he received the John Baril Award. At UMKC, he sang the leading baritone roles of John Brooke in Little Women, Papageno in W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute and Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte. At the Aspen Music Festival, he debuted as Paris in Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette and was the baritone soloist in Kurt Weil’s Seven Deadly Sins. In 2015, he made his Kansas City Symphony debut singing the Toreador aria from Georges Bizet's Carmen and made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in 2014 singing Papageno’s aria. He made his Lyric Opera of Kansas City debut in 2015 in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni and has also sung in their productions of Elixir of Love, Carmen, and W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.
His future engagements include: the title role in Gianni Schicchi with UMKC, featured recitalist with Mu Phi Epsilon Alumni Chapter, baritone soloist in Faure’s Requiem with Visitation Catholic Church, 2nd Prison Guard in Dead Man Walking with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and featured soloist with the Midwest Chamber Ensemble. Armando Contreras is a six- year member of Mu Phi Epsilon. He currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri. |
