American baritone Robert Cardwell recently completed the Professional Fellowship with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, where he made his role debut as Friedrich Bhaer in Mark Adamo’s Little Women. He also returned to Amarillo Opera as Baron Douphol in Verdi’s La Traviata and Chief Cameahwait/Sergeant Floyd in Stephen Magor’s Dream of the Pacific, and made his debut with the Sherman Symphony Orchestra.

A member of the Opera Studio at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, Robert performed various opera aria and scenes concerts and was a finalist in their annual Meistersinger Competition. As an Apprentice Artist for Sarasota Opera, Robert was seen in Verdi’s Aida, La battaglia di Legnano, and Beethoven’s Fidelio. After completing his apprenticeship, he went on to sing the role of Sciarrone in Tosca with the Central Florida Lyric Opera.

Robert sang the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, in addition to a series of opera aria and scenes concerts with the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival in Italy. He also sang the title role of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Tonio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci with the UNT Opera. Other roles with UNT Opera include Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, The Duke in Romeo et Juliette, and The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance.

Dr. Cardwell made his role debut as Giorgio Germont in La Traviata with the Soma International Foundation in Houston, TX. He went on to win the ‘Robin Angly & Miles Smith Award’ at the Lois Alba Aria Competition and was a semi-finalist in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. He is a recipient of Amarillo Opera’s ‘Mila Gibson Fund for Young Artist Awards’ and a winner of the ‘Edward Baird Singer of the Year’ Competition at the Texoma Region Convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Robert has served as the Baritone/Bass soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Handel’s The Messiah, Stainer’s The Crucifixion, and Dubois’ The Seven Last Words with churches and organizations throughout Texas.

Robert completed the Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Performance at West Texas A&M University. During his time in the Texas Panhandle, he received numerous scholarships, as well as favorable reviews for his operatic roles with WTAMU Opera and Amarillo Opera: the title roles in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Monterone in Rigoletto, Roberto in Vives’ Bohemios, Hosie Roach in Cold SassyTree, among others.

A recent graduate of the University of North Texas Doctoral Program, Dr. Cardwell has served on the faculties of West Texas A&M University, Wayland Baptist University, Texas A&M University – Commerce, and currently Northwestern State University of Louisiana. In addition to teaching and performing, Robert spends his summers as Assistant Music Director for TEXAS Outdoor Musical in the Palo Duro Canyon, where he conducts over 50 performances each summer. His research interests include the promotion of cultural diversity and inclusion in the voice studio through the use of voice repertoire by composers and poets/librettists from underrepresented groups, specifically the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities.

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Baritone Robert Cardwell