ABOUT
Photography by SPENCER PENFIELD PHOTOGRAPHY
Adrian Sanchez, baritone, is a breakout voice on the operatic stage, led by his fresh comedic instinct and dramatic acting. During the pandemic, Sanchez was an adjunct professor at Jacksonville University teaching private lessons, German/French diction, along with making his directorial debut of The Secret Garden. Prior to COVID, Sanchez had made his debut at Winter Opera Saint Louis as José Castro (La fanciulla del West), covered Count Monterone (Rigoletto) at Sarasota Opera, returned to Kentucky Opera to perform as Dancaïre (Carmen) and Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro) while covering Escamillo and Count Almaviva, and was scheduled to cover Prince Yeletsky (Pique Dame) for his return to Des Moines Metro Opera.
The 2018-2019 season featured his company debut at Kentucky Opera as the Speaker and Second Armored Man (Die Zauberflöte), King Melchoir (Amahl and the Night Visitors), and Marullo (Rigoletto); a debut with Opéra Louisiane as Moralès (Carmen); Marcello cover (La bohème) as a Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Artist; and the baritone solo in Fauré’s Requiem at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing, Michigan.
In his 2017-18 season, Sanchez covered Jud Fry (Oklahoma!) and Marullo (Rigoletto) as an Apprentice Artist at Charlottesville Opera; debuted at Indianapolis Opera as the Marquis d’Obigny while covering Germont in La traviata as a Resident Artist, and performed in Manon Lescaut, Carmen, Norma, and Tiefland as an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera.
"The Baker and his Wife (played by Adrian Sanchez and Mindy Shore, respectively), in their quest to have a child, created the show’s emotional core and many of the show’s biggest laughs. Both actors have a gift for physical comedy, and their chemistry made for a memorable pairing."
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In recent years, he has sung Schaunard (La bohème) with the Muddy River Opera Company and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) with the Oberlin In Italy summer program. His collegiate experience encompasses roles such as Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette), Tom Joad (The Grapes of Wrath), Fredrik (A Little Night Music), Baker (Into The Woods), Papageno (The Magic Flute), Baron Zeta (The Merry Widow), and many more.
Sanchez has also performed many new works and covered some of America’s leading baritones in new music performances. Most recently, he covered Morgan Smith in Ben Moore’s Enemies, A Love Story at Kentucky Opera. While completing his graduate studies, Sanchez covered Nathan Gunn as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the orchestra workshop of Mohammad Fairouz’s new opera, Bhutto. He also premiered the role of Petrus in Jeremy Gill’s orchestra performance of Letters from Quebec to Providence in the Rain.
A native of Haslett, Michigan, Sanchez received his Master in Performance and Literature degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Music Performance and Education from Michigan State University. He is the winner of the Young Artist Division in the 2019 Opera MODO Aria Competition, the second place winner of the 2018 Lois Alba Aria Competition, and a semi-finalist of the 2019 Orpheus Vocal Competition.