
Internationally acclaimed Baritone José Rubio has quickly established himself performing at major and regional venues across the country. Equally comfortable in the concert hall as on the operatic stage, Mr. Rubio's Carnegie Hall Recital Debut which was met with great acclaim. The Opera Insider proclaimed that the "...recital was nothing short of stellar." describing the performance as "...an hour of intensely passionate singing and playing. It could have gone on forever without complaint."
Mr. Rubio's current season includes many role debuts as well as house debuts. He begins the season portraying the role of historic figure Walter Harper in the world premiere of the opera Princess Sophia, with the Orpheus Project in Juneau Alaska. He then continues on to sing Bernardo in West Side Story with the Evansville Philharmonic and will return to Alamo City Opera, after a successful engagement last season as El Payador in Maria de Buenos Aires, to sing Hannah in the contemporary american opera As One. In 2019 he will make a role and house debut with Indianopolis Opera singing the role of Lancelot in the classic musical Camelot, and will finish the operatic season with a role debut of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with Vashon Opera.
In past Seasons he has sung principal roles the Cincinnati Opera, Portland Opera, Nashville Opera, Alamo City Opera, Tacoma Opera, Vashon Opera, Bellevue City Opera, Brava! Opera Theater, Encompass Opera, and Pacific Northwest Opera, His roles have included the title characters in ll Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème, Escamillo in Carmen, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Le Mari in Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Bob in The Old Maid and the Theif, and Ben in The Telephone. Internationally he was seen on tour in China with the ISING! International Festival in 2014, 2017, and 2018. He also made his Albany Symphony debut singing the role of the notorious gangster Legs Diamond in the new american opera Roscoe by Evan Mack featuring Deborah Voigt.
In the summer of 2011, he performed the title role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Music Academy of the West. The LA Times heralded him as a “…Figaro with an impressively booming baritone.” While in Santa Barbara, he was personally selected by legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne to perform for William and Catherine Windsor, the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at a high profile charity event at the Santa Barbara Polo Club. During the same summer, Mr. Rubio was selected as runner up in the prestigious Marilyn Horne Song Competition.
In 2010 he completed a 2-year engagement as a Studio Artist with the Portland Opera. During his time there, Mr. Rubio performed and covered over twelve roles for the mainstage, and performed two recitals as part of the Portland Opera's recital series. His mainstage perfomances with Portland Opera include; Schaunard in La Bohème, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Mercurio in La Calisto, Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Marullo in Rigoletto, Barone Douphol in La Traviata, and Tancredi in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. His other leading credits include; Marcello in La Bohème, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dr. Rappaccini in La Hija de Rappaccini, Papageno in The Magic Flute, and Masetto in Don Giovanni.
He received his Artist Diploma and Master’s degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and holds a Bachelor’s from the University of Washington. José Rubio is a three time alumnus of the prestigious Music Academy of the West summer festival where he worked closely with Marilyn Horne, Warren Jones, and music staff from the San Francisco and Metropolitan Opera. He has also spent three summers in Italy performing and studying language at the Opera Theater and Music Festival of Lucca. Mr. Rubio has been a two time winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Competition.
Mr. Rubio is excited and very proud to have been involved in contemporary operas that have produced original recordings. He is featured in two of Philip Glass's operas that were recorded on the Orange Mountain Music label: Orpheé and Galileo Galilei. He can also be heard on Albany Records' world premiere recording of Evan Mack's American Opera, Angel of the Amazon.
Outside of the Classical repertoire, Mr. Rubio has been part of the wildly successful productions The Foot Opera Files, and Body Opera Files, with the contemporary dance group Bodyvox, where he was engaged to perform covers of Tom Waits and Elvis Costello with a live band.
Mr. Rubio's current season includes many role debuts as well as house debuts. He begins the season portraying the role of historic figure Walter Harper in the world premiere of the opera Princess Sophia, with the Orpheus Project in Juneau Alaska. He then continues on to sing Bernardo in West Side Story with the Evansville Philharmonic and will return to Alamo City Opera, after a successful engagement last season as El Payador in Maria de Buenos Aires, to sing Hannah in the contemporary american opera As One. In 2019 he will make a role and house debut with Indianopolis Opera singing the role of Lancelot in the classic musical Camelot, and will finish the operatic season with a role debut of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with Vashon Opera.
In past Seasons he has sung principal roles the Cincinnati Opera, Portland Opera, Nashville Opera, Alamo City Opera, Tacoma Opera, Vashon Opera, Bellevue City Opera, Brava! Opera Theater, Encompass Opera, and Pacific Northwest Opera, His roles have included the title characters in ll Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème, Escamillo in Carmen, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Le Mari in Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Bob in The Old Maid and the Theif, and Ben in The Telephone. Internationally he was seen on tour in China with the ISING! International Festival in 2014, 2017, and 2018. He also made his Albany Symphony debut singing the role of the notorious gangster Legs Diamond in the new american opera Roscoe by Evan Mack featuring Deborah Voigt.
In the summer of 2011, he performed the title role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Music Academy of the West. The LA Times heralded him as a “…Figaro with an impressively booming baritone.” While in Santa Barbara, he was personally selected by legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne to perform for William and Catherine Windsor, the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at a high profile charity event at the Santa Barbara Polo Club. During the same summer, Mr. Rubio was selected as runner up in the prestigious Marilyn Horne Song Competition.
In 2010 he completed a 2-year engagement as a Studio Artist with the Portland Opera. During his time there, Mr. Rubio performed and covered over twelve roles for the mainstage, and performed two recitals as part of the Portland Opera's recital series. His mainstage perfomances with Portland Opera include; Schaunard in La Bohème, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Mercurio in La Calisto, Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Marullo in Rigoletto, Barone Douphol in La Traviata, and Tancredi in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. His other leading credits include; Marcello in La Bohème, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dr. Rappaccini in La Hija de Rappaccini, Papageno in The Magic Flute, and Masetto in Don Giovanni.
He received his Artist Diploma and Master’s degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and holds a Bachelor’s from the University of Washington. José Rubio is a three time alumnus of the prestigious Music Academy of the West summer festival where he worked closely with Marilyn Horne, Warren Jones, and music staff from the San Francisco and Metropolitan Opera. He has also spent three summers in Italy performing and studying language at the Opera Theater and Music Festival of Lucca. Mr. Rubio has been a two time winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Competition.
Mr. Rubio is excited and very proud to have been involved in contemporary operas that have produced original recordings. He is featured in two of Philip Glass's operas that were recorded on the Orange Mountain Music label: Orpheé and Galileo Galilei. He can also be heard on Albany Records' world premiere recording of Evan Mack's American Opera, Angel of the Amazon.
Outside of the Classical repertoire, Mr. Rubio has been part of the wildly successful productions The Foot Opera Files, and Body Opera Files, with the contemporary dance group Bodyvox, where he was engaged to perform covers of Tom Waits and Elvis Costello with a live band.