This past season Ricardo performed Nottingham in Roberto Devereux with Washington Concert Opera, Don Carlo in Ernani with Sarasota Opera, Severo in Donizetti’s Poliuto with Teatro Nuovo, and Silvio in I Pagliacci with Opera San Antonio. His other recent engagements include Silvano in Un ballo in Maschera with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti, Schaunard in La bohème for CulturArte de Puerto Rico, the Marquis de la Force (cover) in Dialogues of the Carmelites for the Houston Grand Opera, Escamillo in Carmen with Opera de Puerto Rico, and concerts with the Mobile Symphony. This season he made his debut as Figaro in Rossini’s Il Barbieri di Siviglia and will be seen as Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas with Opera San José, debuts the role of Miller in Verdi’s Luisa Miller with Sarasota Opera, and returns to Teatro Nuovo for Carolina Uccelli’s Anna di Res-burgo. Future engagements include a debut with Pittsburgh Opera as Silvio in I Pagliacci and a return to Opera San José as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte.
For the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mr. Rivera sang Schaunard in La bohème, Baron Douphol in La traviata, Silvio in I Pagliacci, and Sharpless in Madame Butterfly. Notable covers included Marcello in La bohème, and the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Recent engagements include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at the Aspen Music Festival, Claudio in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict and Angel #7 in the American premiere of contemporary opera Seven Angels by Luke Bedford, both with the Aspen Music Festival, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the International Lyric Academy of Rome and Silvano in Un ballo in maschera with Opera in the Heights.
In concert, he has performed with the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago in Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and with the Civic Orchestra at the Chicago Symphony Center, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Dominican Re-public Symphony Orchestra, and in several concerts with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Rivera has been the recipient of several grants, including the Richard F. Gold Career Grant presented by the Shoshana Foundation, First Prize and Audience Prize winner in the Houston Saengerbund Voice Competition, and Third Prize winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions – Gulf Region. His training includes the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, under the tutelage of Maestro Antonio Pappano, Sherrill Milnes’ VOICExperience, the International Lyric Academy of Rome, and the Aspen Music Festival.
