Originally from Rock Hill, South Carolina, Aaron McKone (he/him) is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma in opera at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he will perform the role of Schoolmaster in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen in the spring. At CCM, McKone studies with renowned heldentenor Stuart Skelton. He has also earned a Master of Music degree from CCM and a Bachelor of Music degree from Winthrop University.

McKone spent this summer working as a studio artist with Wolf Trap Opera, where he covered the title role in Gounod’s Faust and was featured as a soloist in a concert with the National Orchestral Institute and Festival. In the summer of 2022, he was a USA Fellow at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, where he performed in the world premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar, singing the role of Slaver 2 and covering the roles of Auctioneer and Taylor. Other notable roles that McKone has had the pleasure of portraying are Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Chevalier de La Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Galileo (Glass’ Galileo Galilei), Le Remendado (Carmen), Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos), Orphée (Orphée et Euridice), Laurie (Adamo’s Little Women), and Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus). McKone has also sung in several productions with the Opera Carolina Chorus.

McKone relishes the opportunity to take part in concert work. In the spring, he was the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Lima Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he was the tenor soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the York County Choral Society, also joining them to be a soloist in Bach’s Uns ist ein Kind Geboren.

When he is not singing, McKone can often be found spoiling his cat, Momo, reading fantasy novels, or playing any number of board games with his fellow opera singing friends.