Biography
Italian-American tenor Vincent Festa is enjoying a diverse career on both concert and opera stages alike. A versatile performer, Mr. Festa is equally at home in repertoire spanning from the baroque through contemporary. While pursuing his doctoral degree at Indiana University, Mr. Festa was seen in their 2018/19 season as the Chaplain in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Prior roles with IU Opera Theater during his Performance Diploma include Bob Boles in Peter Grimes in their 2016/17 season and King Ouff in L’étoile along with Brighella/Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos during the 2017/18 season. Mr Festa is also an active chorale soloist and in 2016 was the titular soloist in Britten’s cantata St. Nicholas.
Other engagements include covering the role of Nanki-Poo in The Mikado as a studio artist with The Chautauqua Opera Company during their 2016 season, Nika Magadoff in Menotti's The Consul in Jordan Hall conducted by Gill Rose in 2014, Colin in L'amant Anonyme by Saint-Georges with The Little Opera Theater of New York in collaboration with New Vintage Baroque and Peter Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw while at Bard College in 2014.
During the summer of 2014, Mr. Festa was a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center where some of his performances included On Wenlock Edge by Vaughan Williams and his Boston Symphony debut in Bernstein's Candide as Charles Edward and Inquisitor I. In 2013 Mr. Festa made his debut with the Grammy-award winning Albany Symphony in selections from Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 under the baton of David Alan Miller. Additional concert work includes the aria soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion conducted by Leon Botstein in 2013, Beethoven’s Mass in C in 2012 and Mozart's Requiem in 2013.
Additional opera roles include Flute in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream “Opera on the Avalon/Juilliard School”, Arturo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor “NY Opera Exchange , Giles Corey in Robert Ward’s The Crucible “Chautauqua Institute”. Roles studied include Cosi fan tutte, Don Pasquale, La Cenerentola, La Sonnambula, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Orphée et Eurydice and Die Zauberflöte.
A native New Yorker, Mr. Festa holds his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, a Master of Music degree from Bard College Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program under the direction of soprano Dawn Upshaw and most recently completed a Performance Diploma at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University.
Mr. Festa currently resides in Manhattan. Outside of music, he is passionate about cooking, fashion and various visual arts including painting, photography, and sketching.