Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Recent highlights of Mr. Volpe's career include three broadcasts for the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD series: Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (with Il tabarro and Suor Angelica), Rossini's Armida, and Verdi's La Traviata, the Verdi Requiem at the Chichester Festival in Chichester, England, and the popular French grand opera Les Huguenots in the role of Marcel at the Bard Festival; the first time the opera was staged in America since the Metropolitan Opera's production 95 years earlier.

In 2007, Mr. Volpe created the role of Antoine Deguiche in the world premiere of David DiChiera and Bernard Uzan's Cyrano for Michigan Opera Theatre. Recordings of the French Grand Opera's Les Huguenots and Michigan Opera Theatre's Cyrano, as well as a DVD of the MET's Armida, were subsequently released and well-received.

In 2013, Mr. Volpe retained a full calendar. Performances for the bass include Ferrando in Il Trovatore at Arizona Opera, Ramfis in Aida at Michigan Opera Theatre, Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer at Glimmerglass Opera, La Forza del Destino at Washington National Opera, Philip II in Don Carlo at Austin Lyric Opera, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Portland Opera.

Additionally this season, Mr. Volpe will continue his concert roles with the music of Richard Wagner at North Carolina Opera, the Verdi Requiem at Chattanooga Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Carnegie Hall, and Die Walküre - Act I, singing the role of Hunding at the American Symphony Orchestra at Bard.

While consistently in demand, Mr. Volpe remains a focused performer, concert soloist, interpreter of song, and talented educator. He was recently invited to teach masters classes and sing concerts as an Opera Week guest artist at Omaha Opera.

Mr. Volpe attributes his technique and knowledge of the bass repertoire to his studies with accomplished Italian basso Nicola Rossi-Lemeni. Over the years, he has honed his repertoire under the batons of notable conductors including Jame Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, Sir John Pritchard, Maurizio Arena, Marcello Viotti, Semyon Bychkov, Joe Rescigno, Vincent La Selva, Richard Buckley and Richard Hickox.

Domestically, he has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Central City Opera, Florentine Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Kentucky Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Santa Fe Opera, Hawaii Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Natchez Festival of Music, Palm Beach Opera, Portland Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Saratoga, Mobile Opera, New Orleans Opera, Washington National Opera and the Bard Festival.

Internationally, he has been acclaimed at the opera houses of Vancouver, Manitoba, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Tokyo, Kyoto, Shanghai, Beijing, Prague, Colmar, Mulhouse, Imola, Riccione, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Bremen, Dusseldorf, and Saarbrucken.