Praised by Opera Today for “his bass-baritone with sheen and allure,” Brazilian Rafael Porto continues to make a name for himself in the opera world. He recently made his Aspen Music Festival debut as Leporello (Don Giovanni) under the baton of Dame Jane Glover. His season continued with a return to Florida Grand Opera as Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Sivgilia). A lover of new works, he recently created the roles of Guard in David Lang’s world premiere (prisoner of the state) with the New York Philharmonic led by Jaap van Zweden and Putnam in Jake Heggie’s world premiere (If I Were You) conducted by Nicole Paiement with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. This season he sings Sergeant (La bohème) with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
In the 2021-2022 season, Porto made his debuts at Opera San Jose as Dancaïro (Carmen) and Opera Naples as Pitkin (On the Town) and Sacristan (Tosca) alongside acclaimed tenor, Ramon Vargas. He returned to the Northern Lights Festival to sing Alidoro (La Cenerentola) under Gavriel Heine of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Porto performed in the first North American opera production, post-lockdown, in June 2019 as Sacristan (Tosca) opposite Leah Crocetto in the title role. The pandemic forced the cancellation of performances for The Commentator (Scalia/Ginsburg) with Nashville Opera; Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore) with Livermore Valley Opera; Count Ceprano (Rigoletto) and Geronimo (Il martimonio segreto) with Florida Grand Opera.
Past Season highlights include role debut of Leporello (Don Giovanni) at Florida Grand Opera and Capitán in Daniel Catán’s (Florencia en el Amazonas) with internationally acclaimed soprano Ana María Martínez; Luther and Crespel (Les contes d’Hoffmann) at Nashville Opera; his Lincoln Center debut as Dr. Grenvil (La Traviata) with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York; debut at the Northern Lights Music Festival as Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia); sang the roles of Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), 1st Nazarene (Salome), Johann (Werther), Bonze (Madama Butterfly) with Florida Grand Opera; Billy Jackrabbit and José Castro (La Fanciulla del West), and Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) with Indianapolis Opera; and Sacristan and Jailer (Tosca) with Nashville Opera.
On the concert stage Porto has been a guest soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 this season with the Missouri Symphony and previously with Carl St. Clair; Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music under the baton of Raymond Leppard. He recently starred in Amarillo Opera’s Opera Gala! and debuted a solo recital in Miami Beach featuring the arias and art songs of Verdi. He has also been as soloist in Haydn’s Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, P.Q. Phang’s A Vietnamese Requiem, Mozart’s Regina coeli, Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht and Elijah. Porto is frequent recitalist at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.
He has worked under the baton of Christopher Allen, Roberto Kalb, Enrique Mazzola, Ramón Tebar, Dame Jane Glover, Arthur Fagen, Paul Nadler, Joseph Rescigno, David Effron, Dean Williamson, and Alberto Zedda; and has worked with directors Chía Patiño, Garnett Bruce, Jose Maria Condemi, E. Loren Meeker, Kathleen Belcher, Candace Evans, John Hoomes, Peter Kazaras, Julia Pevzner, and Bernard Uzan among others.
Mr. Porto has participated as a Young Artist at The Glimmerglass Festival; Apprentice Artist at the Merola Opera Program; A Renée Fleming Artist at Aspen Music Festival; and a Studio Artist at Florida Grand Opera. He was named a Grand Prize winner of the National Orpheus Vocal Competition in 2016 and was a finalist at the prestigious Eleanor McCollum Competition of Houston Grand Opera. He has been a winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions twice at the district level and went on to win an Encouragement Award as a Regional finalist.
Mr. Porto received his education from the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and Butler University in Indianapolis.