Encompass Arts

Lyric tenor, Eric Margiore, is quickly becoming recognized for his unique Italianate timbre and the excitement that it brings to the stage, especially in the high lying Bel Canto and Lyric French repertory. Eric was most recently hailed by OPERA NEWS for his stunning debut in the role of Arturo in I Puritani with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis when he stepped in twice to replace an ailing tenor. Opera News proclaimed, “The audience was primed for excitement and Margiore, a baritone until two years ago, delivered plenty. He ripped into the role with brio and high-octane vocalism, reaching up to a secure high C-sharp with brilliance and style, upping the ante for the other tenor…this jump-start to his bel canto career was most auspicious.”

The 2008 season found Eric, in January, singing the Tenor Solo’s in Mozart’s Coronation Mass for his third appearance at Carnegie Hall and then to the Vero Beach Opera, in Florida, for the ‘World of Opera Concert’ of arias and duets. In February, Mr. Margiore made his debut in the role of Gerald in Delibes Lakmé with Tulsa Opera and in March he will travel again to Vero Beach to sing Cassio in Otello under the baton of Maestro Steven Crawford. Eric then continues the 2008 season singing Alfredo from La Traviata in April with the Shreveport Opera and then singing Conte Almaviva from Il Barbiere di Siviglia in October with the Sarasota Opera. 2009 will begin with Mr. Margiore singing Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with the Vero Beach Opera, with Paul Plishka singing Don Pasquale. Eric will then again be singing Conte Almaviva from Il Barbiere di Siviglia, in April, this time at the Baltimore Opera Company and in that same year Eric has also been invited to rejoin the Opera Theatre of St. Louis to sing the role of Narraboth in Salome.

During the 2007 season, Eric was the Tenor Soloist in Schuberts Mass in G at Carnegie Hall with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. Eric then joined Opera Theatre of St. Louis to cover both leading tenor roles, Arturo and Riccardo, in the Malibran version of I Puritani and while in residence he was also selected as a soloist for the Colin Graham Memorial Concert. He continued the 2007 summer season singing Rodolfo in La Boheme with the Opera Ischia Festival in Italy, and also performed several concerts in southern Italy. Mr. Margiore then performed, as a selected soloist in the Sergio Franchi Muisc Foundation Annual Memorial Concert in Stonington, Connecticut and then also a special Gala Concert ‘Tutti in Piazza’ to benefit the National Child Abuse Prevention Foundation in Stockton, California. Eric then made his debut in the role of Tony in West Side Story with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra where they wrote, “Margiore really brought down the house with his bravura rendition of “Maria,” with top notes at full volume and very high head tones that, with an emotional softness, floated through the auditorium.” In November, Eric joined the New York City Opera in his debut season to cover Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon; as he was also a featured singer in the NYCO Opera-for-All concert led by Maestro George Manahan. To finish the 2007 season Eric, in December, sang the Tenor Solo’s in Handels Messiah with the Oratorio Society of Queens.

In addition to his performing, Eric has been recognized by many important vocal competitions. He was a selected Quarterfinalist in Placido Domingo’s 2007 Operalia World Opera Vocal Competition, but due to his cover responsibilities as Arturo in St. Louis, was not able to make it to Paris in sufficient time to compete. Furthermore, Mr. Margiore was the winner of a 2007 Encouragement Grant from the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation, an Eastern Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a Semi-Finalist in the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, a finalist in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, and was a selected singer for the Sara Tucker Study Grants. Previous to his successes in 2007, he was fortunate to have received additional grants from the Metropolitan Opera Education Fund; as well, he was a finalist in the Chicago Lyric Opera Young Artist Auditions. He was also a winner in the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, a Second Place Winner with the 5 Towns Music and Art Vocal Competition, and a recipient of the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust.

In the 2006 season, Eric performed Azael in Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue with Opera Naples, in Florida, as well as a concert of Neapolitan songs and opera arias entitled ‘Festa Italiana’ with the Stockton Symphony in California. In the summer of 2006, Eric sang Alfredo in La Traviata, Rodolfo in La Boheme, and Il Duca in Rigoletto with the New Opera Festival di Roma. He then toured southern Italy giving several concerts, singing Neapolitan songs and opera arias. Prior to that summer, Eric performed Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Center City Opera and also Alfredo in La Traviata with the Opera Company of Brooklyn. Eric can also be heard as the Young Conductor on the CD recording of Thomas Pasatieri’s La Divina on Albany Records with the Opera Company of Brooklyn. In the late of 2005, the beginning of Mr. Margiore’s work as a tenor, he performed with the Florida Grand Opera, singing the German Lumberjack and the Young Tree in Brittan’s, Paul Bunyan, and he also sang his first Alfredo in La Traviata with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance.

As a baritone, Eric was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, as well as a National Finalist in the Houston Grand Opera McCollum competition. Eric has performed at Carnegie Hall in roles with the Opera Orchestra of New York, and has also performed with the Chautauqua Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Marilyn Horne Foundation where he performed at Zankel Hall, Liederkranz Opera Theatre, St. Pauls College Singers and throughout Italy with Centro Studi Italiani. He was a recipient of encouragement awards from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition where he performed at Avery Fischer Hall, the Opera Index Vocal Competition, the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition and the Classical Productions Competition, where he performed at Weill Recital Hall. He was also a finalist in other prestigious national vocal competitions including the George London Foundation Competition, the MacAllister Awards Vocal Competition, and was a National Semi-Finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition.

Eric hails from Long Island, New York, USA, and he is a proud Italian-American coming from a Sicilian and Neapolitan family heritage. He is a Cum Laude graduate with a Bachelors of Music in Classical Voice Performance and a minor in Philosophy from New York University. He also holds a Professional Artist Honors Diploma in Opera from the Mannes College of Music in New York. He has completed his professional training in young artist programs with the Chautauqua and Glimmerglass Opera.