BIO

American baritone Nicholas Martorano will cover the roles of Anthony in Sweeney Todd as well as the Administrator in Sky on Swings this summer with Opera Saratoga.  Most recently Nicholas was a member of Virginia Opera’s 2021-2022 Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists Program, where he sang Schaunard in their production of La Bohème. Nicholas sang in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Berkshire Opera Festival for which the press hailed: “But the show’s surprise delights came in the form of its supporting players, the interventions of wry character singers like the Marullo of Nicholas Martorano...” (Parterre). This past summer Nicholas was a member of Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s Young Artist Program where he sang Kinesias in the film premiere of Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata. This past spring, Nicholas sang Trio/Boy 2 in the production Trouble in Tahiti with Virginia Opera. Nicholas also sang in Santa Fe Opera’s workshop of M. Butterfly in collaboration with American Lyric Theater, and he joined Opera on the James as one of the Tyler Young Artists. Nicholas was a Young Artist with Opera Saratoga, where he sang the role of Hortensius in La Fille du Régiment. His past operatic roles have included Apollo in The Cows of Apollo composed by Christopher Theofanidis and libretto by William M. Hoffman; Mr. Fawn in The English Cat by Hans Werner Henze; Paul Von Gunten in Frau Schindler composed by Thomas Morse and libretto by Ken Cazan; Publio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito; Sid in Albert Herring and Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream both works by Benjamin Britten. Mr. Martorano has also sung roles in Chabrier’s L'étoile and Copland’s The Tender Land. For the Aspen Opera Center, he covered the role of Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette. A versatile singer, Mr. Martorano has performed the roles of Rapunzel’s Prince in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Dino in Scott Eyerly’s musical Pooch. In concert, Nicholas Martorano was the baritone soloist in Fauré’s Requiem and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. During his career he has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Lyrique-en-mer Festival de Belle-Île, International Institute of Vocal Arts de Puerto Rico, Festival d'Art Vocal de Montréal, and Opera on the Avalon. He has sung under the baton of such regarded conductors as Robert Spano, Andrew Bisantz, Joshua Horsch, Brian Garman, Adam Turner, Robert Page, Vlad Iftinca, and Brent McMunn. Stage directors with whom he has worked include Chuck Hudson, Eve Summer, Lawrence Edelson, Richard Kagey, Edward Berkeley, Jonathan Loy, Kyle Lang, Keturah Stickann, and Ken Cazan. He has studied voice with Gerald Martin Moore, Elizabeth Hynes, and Maria Spacagna. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Nicholas Martorano received a Master of Music degree from Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in vocal performance from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is proficient in Italian and is a resident of New York City.