Filipino-American baritone Rolfe Dauz is quickly becoming recognized for his beautiful voice, sensitive artistry, and compelling stage presence and has garnered international acclaim for his “focused baritone, perfect diction, and dramatic acting” (Calgary Herald) and “warm, flexible singing made for rewarding listening” (Classical Voice North America).
Rolfe’s summer 2023 highlights included concerts and recitals curated by internationally acclaimed soprano Dawn Upshaw at the renowned Tanglewood Music Center as a Vocal Fellow, after which, he became a member of Detroit Opera’s 2023/24 Resident Artist Program under the leadership of Christine Goerke and Nathalie Doucet. His roles for the season with Detroit Opera House included his company debut as Prince Yamadori in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Jan (Cover) in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking The Waves, and Europas: 3 & 4 by John Cage.
In the summer of 2022, Mr. Dauz joined the Chautauqua Opera Company as a Festival Artist, performing roles in Virgil Thomson The Mother Of Us All and a contemporary opera by Kamala Sankaram entitled Thumbprint. During the 2021-22 season, Mr. Dauz performed the role of Wotan/Hingaan Jann in Indonesian composer Yadi Nursalim Anugerah’s new opera, Ine Aya’, at the renowned Holland Festival and reprised this role in a Holland Festival touring production through Indonesia. His vocal-piano duo with Lithuanian pianist Gabrielė Žemaitytė, was awarded 2nd prize at the 2021 International Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition, and he also performed a livestream recital in the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ under the auspices of the Grote Zangers Recital Series.
During the 2020-21 season, Mr. Dauz toured with Opera2Day’s production of Philip Glass’s The Fall of the House of Usher as the Medic and understudy of William, performed as a soloist with the Bach Collegium ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and covered Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Orchestra of the 18th Century under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery. Mr. Dauz’s additional recent performances include Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Leporello and Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Figaro and Il Conte in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Achilla in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Claudio in Handel’s Agrippina, Farasmane in Handel’s Radamisto and Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. In 2016, he was invited to the Banff Centre’s Open Space: Opera in the 21st Century to perform the role of Junius in a production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia directed by Paul Curran.
A native of San Francisco, Mr. Dauz is a graduate of the Dutch National Opera Academy, which he attended as a recipient of the Holland Scholarship and the AHK Talent Grant. He received his Master’s Degree from the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College- Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Sanford Sylvan and Dawn Upshaw. At Bard, Mr. Dauz performed the role of the Sprecher in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and was a soloist in Handel’s Messiah. During his studies at Bard, he also performed as a soloist with the Albany Symphony in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, Dettingen Te Deum, Ode for Queen Anne and Bach’s Cantata BWV 78.