ANDREW
MANEA
BARITONE
BIOGRAPHY
Lauded for his “Charming…robust baritone…” rising Romanian-American baritone Andrew Manea recently made his role debut as the Duke of Nottingham in Roberto Devereux with the San Francisco Opera. These performances “thrust him into the spotlight, solidifying his status as the next leading baritone of his generation…” (Opera Wire).
Manea recently embarked upon a foray into larger repertoire, with four house debuts this season: Nashville Opera, singing Tonio in I Pagliacci, North Carolina Opera, singing Germont in La Traviata, Sarasota Opera, singing Escamillo in Carmen, and The Grange Festival in Hampshire, UK singing Scarpia in Tosca. He also returns to Maryland Opera for Scarpia in Tosca and joins the Indianapolis Symphony for Handel's Messiah.
The past season's operatic highlights include Don Carlo (Cover) in Ernani at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Ford in Falstaff with Palm Beach Opera, while in concert he was seen as the baritone soloist for Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall and the Bravissimo Bel Canto concert with Maryland Opera. Previously, Andrew debuted with Arizona Opera as Escamillo in Carmen and Opera Omaha as Lorenzo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, performed the role of Montano in Otello with the Pacific Symphony, returned to Palm Beach Opera as Danilo in The Merry Widow, and joined Cleveland Institute of Music's Opera Theater for their concert Shakespeare in Opera.
Mr. Manea has been heard frequently at the San Francisco Opera since making his mainstage debut as an Adler Fellow in the role of Marullo in Rigoletto. During his tenure, he also performed Marcello (cover) in La Bohème, Donner (cover) in Das Rheingold, Gunther (cover) in Götterdämmerung, the Huntsman/Gamekeeper in Rusalka, Dominik in Arabella, Sciarrone in Tosca, Marchese d'Obigny in La Traviata, and in the world premiere of John Adams' Girls of the Golden West.
Other highlights include Marcello in La Bohème with Shreveport Opera, #7 in Transformations with the Merola Opera Program, and Escamillo in Carmen in Wuhan, China at the Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall. With Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, he sang Danilo in The Merry Widow, the Father in Hänsel und Gretel, and the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen.
Andrew Manea was awarded First Place and Audience Favorite in the Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition with Shreveport Opera, was a Semifinalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, earned Second Place and Audience Favorite in the Opera Columbus Cooper-Bing International Vocal Competition, was a Finalist in the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, and was a Career Grant recipient in the Giulio Gari Foundation Competition.
A native of Troy, Michigan, Mr. Manea holds his Bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and his Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with the prolific Bill McGraw.