Tenor Diego Valdez, whose voice is known as “attractive and sustained by well-schooled technique” (Voix-des-Arts, 2021) hails from sunny El Paso, TX and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. During the past year, he has been performing in the virtual space through Quarantine Sing!, a program by his teacher, Elisabeth Stevens, and opened his first live show since the pandemic started with Teatro Grattacielo’s production of L’Amico Fritz in the title role at Phoenicia Festival of the Voice in August, followed by a cover of Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Opera in Williamsburg. Later this season, he will appear as Manfredo in I Vespri Siciliani with New Amsterdam Opera, and Javier in Luisa Fernanda with Opera UTEP as a guest artist. He is currently a young artist with Teatro Grattacielo’s Camerata Bardi covering the role of Fritz and performing Federico in the upcoming production of L’amico Fritz. Diego was recently a semi-finalist of Teatro Grattacielo’s Camerata Bardi International Vocal Competition. He has been a young artist with Opera North, sung Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with International Lyric Academy, as well as been a featured guest artist with Drake Opera as Fenton in Falstaff. Abroad in Montreal, he took on romantic roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, as well as comic ones like Beppe in Donizetti’s Rita, and the Mayor in Britten’s Albert Herring. He’s stepped into crossover roles like that of Anthony in Sweeney Todd and Mr. Erlanson in A Little Night Music, and ventured into more recently composed music like that of James Garner as Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.