Ross Benoliel
Baritone
New England Finalist, 2006

Ross Benoliel has performed the roles of Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Figaro in Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Valentin in Faust, Schaunard in La Bohème, and premiered the role of the Reverend John Wilson in Margaret Garwood's The Scarlet Letter. His repertoire also includes roles such as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Marcello in La Bohème, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, and Colonel Calverly in Patience.
 
Mr. Benoliel was featured at Glimmerglass Opera this past summer in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Jenufa, and the world premiere of Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good.  Mr. Benoliel has performed with Chautauqua Opera as Thomas Putnam in The Crucible. He has also performed with the Pine Mountain Music Festival and the Lake George Opera Festival, with the latter covering Harlekin in Ariadne Auf Naxos. While in Rome in July of 2004, he performed the role of Ben in Menotti's The Telephone and also premiered the lead baritone role in a newly commissioned Italian opera, Cafe 900, for his European debut. Portland Opera, Oregon, cast him as Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly for February 2005.  He has been a featured recitalist with both Ocean City Pops and Opera of the Hamptons. 

Mr. Benoliel just returned from Valencia, Spain as an international finalist in Placido Domingo's 2006 Operalia competiton.  He was a semi-finalist in the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions New England Region. Mr. Benoliel was a finalist of the 2006 and 2005 Jensen Foundation Competition, a finalist of the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions New England Region, a 2004 and 2003 recipient of an encouragement award from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, a 2000 national semifinalist of the MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers and a 1998 finalist of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Prize in Voice.

Mr. Benoliel's off-broadway credits include Jim in the world premiere Wallace Shawn play/opera The Music Teacher at the Minetta Lane Theater in New York City. Ross Benoliel is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and holds a music degree in vocal performance from the University of Michigan.

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