Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Praised for “the easy caramel syrup of his voice” (Opera Today), Mexican-American baritone Armando Contreras is quickly becoming a standout in the world of opera. In 2023, Contreras began the year singing the role of Cesar Chavez in the workshop of Dolores with West Edge Opera. He later performed his fifth Dandini in Kentucky Opera’s production of La cenerentola. He returned to Salt Marsh Opera for the third time, performing the role of Papageno in their production of The Magic Flute. This summer, Armando performed the leading role of Lt. Gonzalez in the stage premiere of Aleksandra Vrebalov and Debroah Breevort’s The Knock. Upcoming engagements include Older Thompson in Glory Denied with Art Song Colorado. Baritone soloist with Colorado Chamber Orchestra, Opera Fort Collins and Salt Marsh Opera. In the 2021/22 Season, Contreras was a part of the world premiere of Aleksandra Vrebalov and Deborah Breevort’s The Knock, singing the lead role of Lt. Roberto Gonzales with The Glimmerglass Festival. Other highlights of his 2021/22 Season included making his debut with Salt Marsh Opera as Moralès in Carmen, reprising the role of Diego Rivera in Frida and the Bravest Girl in the World with Central City Opera, joining Opera Steamboat in The Three Feathers as The King/Rat, making his Denver Philharmonic debut in The Elixir of Love as Belcore and singing the role of Dandini in La cenerentola with Tri-Cities Opera, Syracuse Opera and Salt Marsh Opera. In the 2020/21 Season, Contreras was seen as Ernesto in the US premiere of Bizet’s Don Procopio with Pacific Opera Project, Il Conte in The Marriage of Figaro and Marcello in La Bohème with Boulder Opera, and Diego Rivera in Frida and the Bravest Girl in the World with Opera Steamboat. In the summer of 2021, he covered the role of Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with The Glimmerglass Festival. Equally comfortable in concert repertoire, he has performed as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Missouri Oratorio Society and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Kansas City Ballet. He also appeared as Papageno in a concert featuring operatic selections by Mozart with The Cleveland Orchestra, a concert he will again perform with the Colorado Symphony in 2022.

Contreras has had extensive training including at The Glimmerglass Festival as a Young Artist, Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist, Lyric Opera of Kansas City as a Young Artist and Central City as a Studio Artist.

Accolades from the vocal competition circuit include Contreras receiving the Top Prize after completion of the Central City Young Artist Program, being named a finalist in the 2020 Kyrenia Opera Vocal Competition and participating in the 2019 Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Competition where he was the Regional Winner.

A strong proponent of education, Contreras holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Master’s degree in the same major from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.