Zizhao Wang, a Chinese born bass-baritone who has completed his opera studies at the New England Conservatory under Mr. Bradley Williams. He was the 1st prize winner at the 2013 Singapore Chinese Vocal International Competition. In 2019, he was awarded the 2nd place and the Boston District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s New England Regional Finals.
He was selected to join the Santa Fe Opera’s prestigious Apprentice Program in 2020. In 2018, he made his appearance with the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center, sang the role of Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola and covered Bonzo in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. In the “Festival Season Finale”, he appeared in Bernstein’s Mass as a soloist under the baton of Keith Lockhart. Mr. Wang was recently invited back to his hometown with the Tsingtao Opera Theater, premiered the prize-winning world premiere of the opera Country & Home in the role of Yang Yaozu with an all-star cast at the 2021 Chinese National Opera Festival. His recital “Love to Hometown” at Tsingtao Concert Hall had a huge social influence. Peninsula City News in Tsingtao said, “This recital attracted a lot of people in the city during the best touring season and pushed the classical music and opera to the public in a brilliant way.”
He made his company debut with the Knoxville Opera as Bartolo in the 2022-2023 season production of Le nozze di Figaro. In the 2023-2024 season, he has joined Opera Southwest for their production of Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro as Martino. He will also be joining the Virginia Opera, making his house debut in the production of Puccini’s masterpiece Madama Butterfly, singing the role of Imperial Commissioner and covering Bonzo. His other notable operatic roles including, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, Bass in Postcard from Morocco, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Elviro in Serse, La Voce in Idomeneo, and King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors.