Vocalists

Rui de Luna Baritone

Baritone Rui de Luna has received high praise for his mesmerizing stage presence and vibrantly expressive performances that have garnered spirited audience acclaim worldwide. He recorded his first CD for BMG/RCA in 1996 and has appeared in opera, concert and recital at major venues in Europe, the Far East and Brazil. Many of his concerts have been broadcast on radio and television.

In recent seasons, Mr. de Luna has performed at La Fenice Theatre, Venice, the Brancaccio Theatre and the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rome, the Shaftsbury Theatre in London, Opera Comique in Paris, the D. Maria National Theatre in Lisbon, the Saint John National Theatre in Oporto, the Montegri Hall in Spain, the Macau National Opera in China, and the Brasilia National Theatre in Brazil. Most recently, he has appeared at the National Hungarian Radio Hall with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra in an all-Mozart program lead by Kovacs Laszlo. He toured with the Northern Symphony Orchestra in Portugal under Rafael Montez Gomes and participated at international music festivals.

Mr. de Luna has sung the roles of Marcello in La Boheme, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Mustafa in L'Italiana in Algeri, Amonasro in Aida, Germont in La Traviata, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, Valentin in Faust, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Eurydice and Escamillo in Carmen, among others. He has also sung the roles of the Count and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Leporello and Masetto in Don Giovanni, and Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutti.

He has collaborated with Maestro Kovács László, Yuan Fang, Mats Liljefors, Gunther Arglebe and Rafael Montes Gómez. In recital, Rui de Luna has performed virtuoso arias from the classical expression of Gluck and Mozart to the Romantic passion of Puccini. His accompanists include Catherine Chu (MET, New York City), Constance Channon-Douglas (Opera Di Roma), Patrizia Quarta (Arena Di Verona), Stefano Gibellatto (La Fenice Theatre), and Joel Bello Soaraes (Teatro Nacional de Brasilia, Brazil.) Mr. de Luna studied Italian operatic repertoire in Rome and Verona in 1994 under Patrizia Quarta, pianist of the Verona area. He received a scholarship from the Sao Carlos National Opera in 1988 for studies in Venice, Italy with Claude Thiolas, disciple of Lauri Volpi and Mario del Monaco. Mr. de Luna was the recipient of many honors and awards in Portugal. In addition, he won Third Prize in the Piano category of the Young Musicians Competition in Rome in 1983; became the Finalist of the International Di Stefano Vocal Competition in Trapani, Italy in 1994; and received the "Artistic Merit Award" in Brasilia, Brazil in 1996.

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Rui de Luna began his piano studies at the age of five. He took voice lessons and master classes at age 14 in Lisbon, Portugal (Carlo Bergonzi), at the Paris Opera Comique (Claude Thiolas), the Renata Scotto Opera Company (Renata Scotto), and the Royal Academy of Music in London (Sherril Milnes). Mr. De Luna attended the Universidade Livre in Lisbon where he studied History of Art. He pursued studies of History of Music at the University Castelfranco Veneto, Italy.