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The American bass, actor and cposer, Raffi E. Wright, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in from Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester (July 2018-2022). During his four years at the School, he achieved degrees in Vocal Performance, Musical Arts (honors degree), Arts Administration (Institute for Music Leadership), Secondary Piano, with concentration in English Literature. He is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity degree in Worship Leadership at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary online (since January 2023).
Bridging the boundary between opera and musical theatre, Raffi Wright is a singer, actor, pianist, composer, arranger, and private teacher. He has appeared in the Buffalo and Rochester Theatre Scene for over a decade. Some recent musical theatre credits include Young Frankenstein (Igor), Phantom of the Opera (Phantom), Cabaret (Emcee), and Sweeney Todd (Ensemble). Some theatrical credits include And Then There Were None (Anthony Marston), The Foreigner (Charlie Baker), The Odd Couple (Felix Ungar), and Death of Salesman (Willy Loman). Recent operatic credits include Eastman Opera Theatre’s Our Voices in which he collaborated with composers Lori Laitman and Ben Moore, Elizabeth Cree (Witness), W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (Papageno), and Into the Woods (Baker).
During his sophomore year in high school, Raffi Wright won Western New York’s Kenny Award for Most Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Igor in Young Frankenstein in 2016. He was also awarded a full fellowship to perform in Berlin’s 2020 OpernFest as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Pinello in Gianni Schicchi.
In 2022, Raffi Wright premiered his multi-media composition She Taught Me: Her Childhood without Spring, a song cycle for voice and piano filled with the words of his great-grandmother recalling her traumatic past of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. A recording of the premiere is available to watch on his website.
Raffi Wright feels deeply privileged to be the Associate Pastor of Music Ministry and Children’s Ministry at Faith Fellowship Church in Clarence, New York (since December 2022). As a teaching artist for both What is Opera, Anyway? and Representation Matters, he has dedicated himself to educating the younger generation about various avenues of art through a diverse lens. To further invest in community, he has been an active member of Shea's Performing Arts Center educational programs and offers private lessons to children and adults from all areas of WNY. He loves performing with the non-profit Vision Possible Charities which brings together artists from all over the world to raise money for various humanitarian causes. He is a lover of language. He has studied Latin, Italian, German, and French. He continues to study Greek and Hebrew. He gladly offers coachings in all of these languages.
Raffi Wright currently lives in Buffalo, New York. When not performing, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, usually over a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee. |
