RAFAEL MORAS
Melissa Taylor Photography
Hailed for his ability to communicate “…romance and heartbreak with his soaring tenor tones,” by Broadway World and “..heroic bravado…”, “…acting chops…”, and “…irresistible mix of Italianate and Latin passion…” by Musical America Worldwide, Opera News, and Classical Voice North America respectively, tenor Rafael Moras is a rising operatic star whose voice, stage presence, and ability to speak with audiences have connected in performance venues around the world.
A graduate of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program and The Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program for Singers, Rafael recently made his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut as a soloist in the Cincinnati Pops Holiday Pops and returned to the Houston Symphony as the soloist in their Star-Spangled Salute outdoor concerts. Rafael also recently made his Seattle Opera debut as Tariq in the critically-acclaimed world premiere A Thousand Splendid Suns and his Minnesota Opera debut as Don José in Carmen, the directorial debut of acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. He collaborated with the San Antonio Mastersingers for the first time as a featured soloist in Theatrical Serenade, and recently returned to Arizona Opera as the titular Zorro in their inaugural New Works Festival. He will be back to sing the role in full for Arizona Opera’s main stage 2025-2026 season.
Rafael has performed as a featured soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, San Antonio Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Fort Worth Opera, Austin Opera, Aspen Music Festival, the San Antonio Mastersingers, and as a featured opera singer soloist in the Chris Botti in Concert worldwide tour. Further highlights include debuts with Houston Grand Opera and Arizona Opera as Father Matías in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, Utah Opera and Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera as Alfredo in La traviata, and Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto. In 2016, Rafael was heard as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Aspen Music Festival. Of his performance, Opera News said “[Rafael Moras] escaped all of the tempting tenorial clichés to create a fully fleshed-out characterization. His singing remained warm and ingratiating, from low note to high, from first scene to last.” He is a two-year recipient of The Santa Fe Opera's Richard Tucker Fund Award, Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition Grand Finalist, Operalia Quarter Finalist, United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and a two-year Eleanor McCollum Vocal Competition Finalist.
Headshot by Chris Gillett Photography