American baritone, Craig Francis Smith is a Rochester, NY native. Mr. Smith has performed with Annapolis Opera, the Maryland Opera Studio, the Janiec Opera Company at The Brevard Music Center and the award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble. Recent credits include the title role in Gianni Schicchi, The title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, Ronaldo Cabral in Later the Same Evening, Second Armoured Man/First Priest in The Magic Flute,  The Duke in Romeo et Juliette, Ivan in Die Fledermaus, and The Superintendent in Tom Cipullo’s world premiere of Mayo. In the 2022-2023 season, Mr. Smith will be singing Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème  The Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up and Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

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Mr. Smith has won numerous awards; 1st place in the Classical Singer Magazine Competition at the Regional Level in 2017 and 2019 along with 2nd place at the Central New York National Association of Teachers of Singing in 2018. He has sung in masterclasses for Richard Margison, Darren Keith Woods, Suzanne Hendrix, Jennifer Holloway, and Lisa Vroman.

 

Mr. Smith has received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he studied with Dr. Colleen Skull. He is pursuing a Masters of Music at the University of Maryland as a part of the Maryland Opera Studio, where he is studying with world-renowned bass-baritone Kevin Short.