Armando CONTRERAS

Praised for “the easy caramel syrup of his voice” (Opera Today), Mexican-American baritone Armando Contreras is becoming known for his interpretations of new works and comedic roles, and was recently featured in Opera America’s In the Wings series as a “top emerging singer”. In the 2025-2026 season, Mr. Contreras will join Opera Columbus to reprise his signature role as Hemingway/Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea, which he will also sing with LA Opera in 2027. He can be heard in this role in Beth Morrison Projects’ upcoming album release of BMP Songbook. He also joins Arizona Opera and Pacific Opera Project to sing Sergeant José María Gomez and cover Moncada in Zorro, and returns to Kentucky Opera to sing Don Andres in Songbird. Next season, Mr. Contreras returns to the role of Sergeant José María Gomez in Zorro with Utah Opera.

In the 2024-2025 season, he returned to Pacific Opera Project in the title role of Antonio Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo, which was lauded by the Los Angeles Times as “one of the performances of the year.” He appeared as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Las Vegas, and sang as the baritone soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutches Requiem with the Larimer Chorale. He also joined Central City Opera as Lt. Roberto Gonzalez in The Knock and the Crested Butte Center for the Arts for concerts as Guglielmo in an abridged version of Così fan tutte. Mr. Contreras recently made his company debut with Cincinnati Opera as Lt. Roberto Gonzalez in the stage premiere of The Knock, a role he first performed with the Glimmerglass Festival in 2021 and will also sing this season with Art Song Colorado. He also sang Hemingway/Santiago in the world premiere of The Old Man and the Sea with Beth Morrison Projects at Carolina Performing Arts and ASU Gammage. His recent portrayal of Older Thompson in Glory Denied with the Cleveland Institute of Music met glowing reviews - Cleveland Classical writes: “Contreras’s gripping performance fully realized Older Jim’s pain and confusion.” He sang the roles of Zazueta and Moncada in excerpts from Zorro with Arizona Opera as well as Cesar Chavez in a workshop of Dolores with West Edge Opera. He also sang a series of “tight and perfect” Dandinis in La Cenerentola with Kentucky Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, Syracuse Opera and Salt Marsh Opera (Arts-Louisville).

In 2022, Mr. Contreras sang a lead role in the world premiere of the Rossini pastiche Tenor Overboard with the Glimmerglass Festival. Highlights of recent seasons include his company debut as Moralès in Carmen and Papageno in The Magic Flute with Salt Marsh Opera, both of which he covered during his time with the Glimmerglass Festival, Diego Rivera in Frida and the Bravest Girl in the World (Central City Opera, Opera Steamboat), The King/Rat in The Three Feathers (Opera Steamboat), and his Denver Philharmonic debut as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore. Mr. Contreras also sang Ernesto in the US premiere of Bizet’s Don Procopio and Filippo in Rossini’s La gazzetta with Pacific Opera Project, Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro and Marcello in La bohème (Boulder Opera), Ben in The Telephone (Opera Fort Collins), and Estaban in En Mis Palabras and Le Dancaïre in Carmen (Central City Opera). With Lyric Opera of Kansas City, he sang Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, the Herald in Rigoletto, and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and he covered Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Doug Hansen in Everest.

Equally comfortable in concert repertoire as on the opera stage, he performed as the baritone soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with Omaha Symphony last season and recently appeared in recital with Colorado State and Pikes Peak Opera League. He has performed as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Missouri Oratorio Society and as the baritone soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Kansas City Ballet, and appeared as Papageno in a concert featuring operatic selections by Mozart with The Cleveland Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony.

Mr. Contreras has had training at The Glimmerglass Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Central City Opera. Accolades from the vocal competition circuit include the Top Prize after completion of the Central City Young Artist Program, being named a finalist in the 2020 Kyrenia Opera Vocal Competition and regional winner in the 2019 Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Competition. Mr. Contreras holds a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Master’s degree in Voice Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.