José Luis Maldonado

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BIOGRAPHY

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Hailed by Opera News as a “seemingly unlimited baritone,” international vocalist José Luis Maldonado, from Los Angeles, California attended Cal State Fullerton (BM), and Manhattan School of Music (MM); he is currently attending Michigan State University as a candidate for a doctorate in music, vocal performance under the tutelage of Dr. Mark Rucker.

 

He is a career grant recipient from the Opera Buffs Inc. and Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipient from the Shoshana Foundation. Maldonado’s roles include Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Don Magnfico (La Cenerentola), Escamillo (Carmen) , Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni) and the title role of Falstaff (Falstaff).

 

He first performed with Maestro Anthony Parnther in his Long Beach Opera debut in Anthony Davis’ Central Park Five. In 2022, he covered Sir Bryn Terfel as Sir John Falstaff in Falstaff at the Aspen Music Festival. He reprised Falstaff in March 2023 at Michigan State, and returned to Aspen to sing Father Arguedas in the opera Bel Canto, by Jimmy López. Maldonado was analist in the inaugural Duncan Williams Competition, a collaborative effort by Manhattan School of Music and New York City Opera, and was a District winner for the Metropolitan Opera Competition, Audience Prize winner in the Opera Ithaca Competition, and finalist in the Tenor Vinas Competition in Spain. Maldonado has toured with Opera Maya in Cancún, Mexico and in Aspen he performed a Zarzuela concert with world-renowned Metropolitan Opera Star Ana Maria Martinez, and took lessons with legendary sopranos, Carol Vaness and Renee Fleming.

 

Maldonado last season debuted the role of Don Giovanni in Michigan, before returning to Los Angeles and debuting with Lyric Opera of Orange County in Falstaff and the Father in Hansel y Gretel. He then made his Pacific Opera Project (POP) debut as the Hunter in Dvorak's Rusalka. He is currently singing in Opera Grand Rapid's “Hip Opera” tour, blending opera and hip-hop, which ends the season this May. Maldonado also made his Lincoln Center debut as Escamillo in La Carmencita, an Argentinian adaptation in Spanish of Bizet’s Carmen, and return to New York in May to sing in Carnegie Hall’s Nuestros Sonidos celebration. For more information, visit www.BaritoneJoe.com