B i o g r a p h y
Baritone Evan Bravos, marked as a “young talent to watch” by the Chicago Tribune, has received critical acclaim for his “lovely lyric baritone” (Opera News) in artful interpretations of opera, oratorio and art song repertoire.
His highlights for the 2023-24 season include Countess’ Lackey/Ivan Ivanovich in Shostakovich’s The Nose with Chicago Opera Theater, an orchestral debut with Helena Symphony on Rachmaninoff's The Bells and a featured performance of Schubert's Der Winterreise for Opera Up Close, a concert series in Chicago. This fall, he jumped in to guest at University of South Carolina's production of Le Nozze di Figaro and this spring, will guest for Five Mystical Songs at Blackburn College.
Mr. Bravos’ 2022-23 season marked several debuts, from a solo appearance in Carmina Burana with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, to the role of Nathan/Father in White Snake Projects’ newly minted annual holiday series, “Let’s Celebrate.” With Chicago Opera Theater, Bravos covered the Vicar in Albert Herring and debuted the role of Kenny Kincaid in The Cook-Off. He made a role and company debut at Opera Tampa as Silvio in I Pagliacci.
Of Bravos’ recent performance in the West Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain at the Music Academy of the West, Voice Magazine raved, baritone Evan Bravos’ performance in the lead role of Inman indicated his career is already moving forward and little wonder; he commands a powerful, rich voice and his acting chops are first-class."
In 2021-22, Bravos performed the role of Hannah Before in what marked the 50th production of Laura Kaminsky and Mark Cambell's As One with Opera Santa Barbara as well as with Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. In concert with New Philharmonic he sang the role of Riff in West Side Story and with Chicago Opera Theatre, played El Dancaïro in Carmen alongside Jamie Barton and Stephanie Blythe. During pandemic times, Bravos “sang winningly” (Opera News) as Clay in the world premiere of Matthew Reccio and Royce Vavrek’s opera The Puppy Episode. He created the role of Claudius in the world premiere performance and recording of Joseph Summer's Hamlet in a collaboration between the State Opera Ruse (Bulgaria), Parma Recordings and Boston's Shakespeare Concert Series.
Performances with Virginia Opera as George Jones in Kurt Weill's Street Scene and as Masetto in Don Giovanni led Broadway World to proclaim, “If the future of opera sounds like Bravos, the art boasts a bright future indeed.” Bravos has performed with companies like Opera Theatre of St. Louis, creating the roles of Pvt. Johnson and Sgt. Brown in the world premiere of Huang Rao’s
An American Soldier and performing as John Bagtry in Regina alongside mezzo-soprano Susan Graham; Sarasota Opera, covering Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Count Gil in Il Segreto di Susanna, and Gasparo in Rita; Opera on the James, performing Masetto in Don Giovanni; Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, singing the title role in Don Giovanni; and with other companies, including San Diego Opera, Central City Opera and the Aspen Music Festival. In the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Lyric Unlimited” series, Bravos played Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and covered Enrique in the debut of t Mariachi opera El Pasado Nunca seTermina.
Additional roles have included Maximilian in Bernstein's Candide (Ravinia Festival) Escamillo in Carmen (Chicago Opera Theater) Harashta in The Cunning Little Vixen (Opera Santa Barbara) Prison Guard 2 in Dead Man Walking, Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music (Central City Opera) Martin in Candide, Fisherman in Peter Grimes (Aspen Music Festival), Sid in Albert Herring, Dr.Falke in Die Fledermaus, Marcello La Boheme and Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (Northwestern University Opera)for which the Chicago Tribune praised Bravos’ “strong singing and acting.”
He has been a soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Milwaukee Symphony), Copland’s Old American Songs (Madison Symphony), Orff’s Carmina Burana (Hawaii Symphony), Handel’s Messiah (Santa Fe Symphony) and in the Fauré Requiem on tour with the Colorado Symphony Chorus in Paris, Strasbourg and Munich. An avid recitalist, Bravos was a 2018 Vocal Fellow at Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute and has been featured in art song initiatives at the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago and the Horto Music Festival in Pelion, Greece. He has also performed Patrice Michaels’ Notorious RBG in Song on several occasions.
Bravos received an Encouragement Award in the 2014 Metropolitan National Council auditions, was a finalist in the National Opera Association Dominic Argento competition, a recipient of the Central City Opera Apprentice Artist Award and a winner of the Pasadena Opera Guild competition. A native of St. Charles, IL, he studied at Lawrence University Conservatory (B.M.) and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music (M.M.), where he is now a Doctoral Candidate. Bravos is Artist Faculty at Roosevelt University’s CCPAA (Chicago College of Performing Arts), in downtown Chicago.