BIOGRAPHY
Baritone Lorenzo Formosa with his warm lyric baritone sound and engaging stage presence has distinguished himself as an artist who delight's audiences in performances of opera, operetta, and symphony works. Making his critically acclaimed debut as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Eugene Opera, The Register-Guard praised his performance saying, "Formosa has it all- voice, looks, intelligence and absolute command of the stage."
Engagements include the roles of Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd and Harry Easter in Street Scene at Northeastern University, Chicago, IL as a guest artist; Silvio in I Pagliacci at the Accorn Theater; Germont in La Traviata with L’Opera Piccola; Ping in Puccini’s Turandot with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; Carmina Burana with the Hawaii International Choral Festival and Honolulu Symphony Orchestra; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with L'Opera Piccola where the Chicago Tribune praised his performance saying – “In any production of ‘The Barber’, Figaro is the star, and in Saturday’s performance Lorenzo Formosa richly earned that rank. His voice is powerful and fully alive, and he used it with playful zest.”
Other highlights include Carmina Burana with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; Silvio in I Pagliacci with the Dayton Opera; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and the Traverse Symphony Orchestra; Pops concerts with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; and Sondheim's Sweeney Todd with Chicago's Ravinia Festival where he also understudied the title role.
Mr. Formosa has performed the role of Ford in Verdi's Falstaff with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, Marcello in La Boheme with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and L'Opera Piccola, Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly with the Elgin Opera, Whitewater Opera, Sorg Opera, and Pine Mountain Music Festival, and Schaunard in La Boheme with the Madison Opera Theater. At Lyric Opera of Chicago, he appeared in Verdi's Don Carlo as one of the Flemish Deputies, and in the 2000 - 2001 season, understudied the role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Additional performances include an evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein with the Grant Park Music Festival, Germont in Verdi's La Traviata with Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and with L'Opera Piccola , Dr. Falke in Strauss' Die Fledermaus with Light Opera Works, De Bretigny in Massenet's Manonwith Opera Omaha, and Che in Webber's Evita with Huron Civic Theater. With Michigan Opera Theatre, he performed several roles on the main stage including Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Angelotti in Tosca, and Schaunard in their 1988 touring production of La Boheme.
As a concert soloist, Lorenzo's repertoire features the Requiems of Brahms, Durufle and Mozart, Beethoven's Symphony No.9 and Mass in C, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Dvorak's Te Deum, Haydn's Second Mass in C, Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, and Orffs Carmina Burana. In 1987 he was selected as a cantor in the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy with Pope John Paul II at Pontiac Silverdome, MI. In September 2001, the Aon Corporation called upon Lorenzo to sing their memorial service at the Cathedral of St. Patrick, New York, honoring their employee's lost in the World Trade Center.
