The Dean of the Mike Curb College, Dan Hosken, and the Chair of Music, John Roscigno, are pleased to announce that Dr. Hugo Vera will join the faculty in the Music Department in Fall of 2020 as Director of Vocal Arts and Opera.
A native Texan, tenor Hugo Vera is described as possessing a “truly heroic voice” that is both “beautiful and brilliant.” Mr. Vera has performed over 45 roles and over 50 large choral orchestral works with distinguished companies, including seven seasons with The Metropolitan Opera. In addition, Mr. Vera has sung with Spoleto, USA, Piccolo Spoleto, Kansas City Symphony, New York City Opera, Illinois Symphony and Chorus, Fort St. Symphony and Chorus, Opera Memphis, Center for Contemporary Opera, New Opera NYC, Aspen Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Sarasota Opera, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera North, Aspen Opera Theatre, The Minnesota Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Nashville Opera, Shreveport Opera, Tanglewood Music Festival, True Concord and Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony and Arizona Opera. As an active recitalist and clinician, he has performed recitals as an Artist in Residence at Dartmouth College, University of Texas-Pan America, Westminster College, Theatre Lawrence, Presbyterian College, GLOW Lyric Theatre, Edinburg Consolidated School District, and Lawrence Arts Center.
In 2019-2020 on stage he performed as Cavaradossi in Tosca (Opera Argentario, Italy), Don Jose in Carmen (GLOW Lyric Theatre), Amaryllis in The Poisoned Kiss (Cache Valley Opera), and made his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. He has performed recitals as an Artist in Residence at Presbyterian College, Bethel College, SUNY Oswego, University of Kansas Lied Center, GLOW Lyric Theatre, and Theatre Lawrence (KS). In the 2020-2021 season Hugo will be performing concerts in NYC (Stephen Wise Synagogue), as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Indianapolis Opera), as Cavaradossi in Tosca, and in the musical Showboat (GLOW Lyric Theatre).
In 2020, Hugo released an album entitled Romances and Poems featuring the works of Russian composer Sergei Taneyev on the Centaur Recording label. In addition to being featured on various Metropolitan Opera Live in HD broadcasts, he can be heard in various world premiere recordings and broadcasts which include Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath (Minnesota Opera), Craig Bohmler’s Riders of the Purple Sage (Arizona Opera), Paul Paray’s Mass, and the DVD of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (Metropolitan Opera).
Mr. Vera enjoyed the privilege of training with several noteworthy young artist programs including the Brevard Music Center, the Tanglewood Music Festival, Aspen Music Center, Chautauqua Opera, The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Minnesota Opera, Opera North, Sarasota Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera. He holds a D.M.A. (Honors) in Voice/Opera/Musical Theatre and Choral Conducting from The University of Kansas, an M.M. (Honors) in Voice/Opera from The University of Kansas, and a B.M. in Voice from the University of Utah.
As an educator, he has served on the music faculties at Presbyterian College, New York University (Tisch and Steinhardt), University of Kansas, and the Midwest Summer Music Institute. He keeps an active private voice studio in Tucson and New York City. He is Artistic Director, of Lawrence Opera Theatre (LOT) a summer music performing company as well as Artistic Director of the Vocal Academy of Orvieto (Italy). His main areas of interests are vocal chamber music, concert vocal works and foundational vocal teaching.
For more information please visit: https://www.facebook.com/hugoveratenor/