Virgilio Marino

Tenor

Australian tenor Virgilio studied voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Mannes College of Music in New York. While in New York, his operatic performances included Fenton (Falstaff), Prunier (La rondine) and Alfredo (La traviata). He has worked with voice coaches including Renata Scotto, Regina Resnik, Ruth Falcon, Tony Manoli and Joe Colaneri and completed masterclasses with Richard Miller, Jon Vickers, Fedora Barbieri and Jay Lessinger.  2003 took him to Italy for further studies in the bel canto repertoire, where he performed Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Milan and was a Semi-Finalist in the Concorso Riccardo Zandonai, Riva, Italy.

Continuing his long-standing relationship with Opera Australia in 2023, Virgilio sang The Abbé (Adriana Lecouvreur), Goro (Madama Butterfly) and Borsa (Rigoletto); other recent performances for the national company include Pong (Turandot), Cassio (Otello), Goro, Uldino (Attila), Camille (The Merry Widow), and Remendado (Carmen). He returns to OA in 2025 in La traviata, Carmen and Le nozze di Figaro.

Virgilio made his professional debut at Theater Regensburg in Germany, performing the roles of The Duke (Rigoletto) and the title role in Oberon – after which he returned to Australia, joining Opera Queensland. His roles there have included Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Rodolfo (La bohème), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), The Duke (Rigoletto), Jaquino (Fidelio), Roderigo (Otello), Malcolm (Macbeth), Spoletta (Tosca), Gastone (La traviata), Monostatos (The Magic Flute), Pong (Turandot), Harry (La fanciulla del West), Njegus (The Merry Widow), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Almaviva (The Barber of Seville) and Alfredo (Die Fledermaus).

Other engagements have included Pang (Turandot), Goro, Johansson (Ghost Sonata), Andres (Wozzeck), Borsa (Rigoletto), First Jew (Salome), Narciso (Il turco in Italia), Camille (The Merry Widow) for Opera Australia; Rinnuccio (Gianni Schicchi) for West Australian Opera and for Southern Opera New Zealand; Jaquino (Fidelio), Harry (La fanciulla del West) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) for State Opera South Australia; and Howard Boucher (Dead Man Walking) in Sydney. He also travelled to Tokyo to sing Ferrando in a new production of Così fan tutte presented by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture in collaboration with Opera Australia.

On the concert platform Virgilio has been heard in Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with Orchestra of the Music Makers in Singapore; Messiah (Queensland Choir), Shepherd (Oedipus Rex) for New Zealand Festival; Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, Enescu’s Vox Maris and Verdi’s Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Philharmonia; Mozart’s Requiem with the Queensland Symphony; Don Curzio (The Marriage of Figaro) and Gastone (La traviata) for the Brisbane Festival.