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The American bariton, Thomas Flrio, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University; and his Master of Music degree from Indiana University in Bloomington. He participated in several Young Artist Programs: Wolf Trap Opera Studio Kim Witman, Joshua Winograde (2007, 2008); Merola Opera Program – San Francisco Opera Sheri Greenawald, Mark Morash (2010); Internationales Opernstudio – Staatsoper Hamburg Simone Young, Alexander Winterson (2011-2013). In 2011 he was awarded Second Place in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCallum Competition, First Place in the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Competition, Second Place in the Opera Columbus Irma M. Cooper Competition, and was a District Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. October 2011 brought his New York/Carnegie Hall recital debut as the winner of the 41st NATS Artist Award Competition.
Thomas Florio is gaining recognition as an exciting new voice in classical music. His performance as Archibius in Johann Mattheson's Cleopatra was hailed as "el momento vocalmente más brillante" ("the most dazzling vocal moment") by Scherzo Magazine, and "Das stimmliche Ereignis der Aufführung" ("The vocal event of the performance") by Orpheus Opera International. Orpheus went on to say, "Imponierend auch seine furiose, glänzend gesungene Arie 'Zur Rache, verlache' sowie die akzentuierte Wortbehandlung und die hintergründige Ausformung der Figur" ("Also impressive was his furious, brilliantly sung aria 'Zur Rache, verlache,' showing his accentuated text painting and the subtle shaping of his character").
From 2011 to 2013, Thomas Florio was a member of the Internationales Opernstudio at the Staatsoper Hamburg. While there, he gave role debuts as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Schaunard in La bohème, and Archibius in Cleopatra, and performed the role of Angel 6/Gardener/General in the German premiere of Luke Bedford's 2011 opera, Seven Angels. Other highlights at the Staatsoper included covering Wolfram von Eschenbach in Tannhäuser during the theater's "Wagner Wahn" celebration of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth, and performances as Hortensius in La fille du régiment, Konrad Nachtigall in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Marullo in Rigoletto, Bischof von Feltre and Verstorbene Meister der Tonkunst in Palestrina, Police Officer and Asylum Doctor in Bliss, Sciarrone in Tosca, City Crier in Gloriana, 2. Nazarener in Salome, and Perückenmacher in Ariadne auf Naxos.
The 2013-2014 season brought Thomas Florio back to his native Virginia where he joined the Staunton Music Festival as a Festival Artist, seven years after studying there as a Young Artist. Highlights in Staunton include concerts featuring Lieder by Ferruccio Busoni, Robert Schumann, and a world premiere work by Zachary Wadsworth. He made his debut with the Hamburger Kammeroper in the fall of 2013, singing Mustafa and Hály (alternating nights) in a new production of L'italiana in algeri, followed in winter 2014 by returns to the Staatsoper Hamburg for performances as Marullo in Rigoletto and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, and performances as Chillingworth in the world premiere of Der scharlachrote Buchstabe / The Scarlet Letter at the Hamburger Kammeroper. Thomas also joined Theater für Kinder, Germany's oldest professional children's opera company, to sing Ping in their production of Turandot for children.
On the concert platform, Thomas Florio has sung J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232 (Indiana University, 2009), George Frideric Handel's Messiah (Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, 2009), W.A. Mozart's Coronation Mass, Vesperae solennes de confessore (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 2010), Der Schulmeister by Christoph Ludwig Fehre, attributed to Georg Philipp Telemann (Ev.-Luth. Kirchengemeinde Lokstedt 2013), J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 (Staunton Music Festival, 2014).
Thomas Florio has also performed with the Cincinnati, Czech National, and Lafayette Symphony Orchestras, and can be heard as Judge No. 3 on the Grammy-nominated recording of John Musto's Volpone by Wolf Trap Opera. |
