Gino Pinzone
A native of Western New York, Italian-American lyric baritone Gino Pinzone is equally at home on the concert and operatic stage. With a voice that has been described as “Clarion, metallic and alive…” in Classical Voice Magazine, Gino has sung on the stages of North America and Europe. Noted operatic appearances include Il Conte Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Canadian Opera Company), Valentin in Faust (Cleveland Opera) and title roles in Pelléas et Mélisande (Cincinnati Opera), Eugene Onegin (Opera North) and Hamlet (Opera in the Heights). Recently, as he pursues his Doctor of Musical Arts at The Eastman School of Music, where he studies under Robert Swensen, he appeared as Marquis de la Force in Les Dialogues des Carmelites under Timothy Long. Of his European Debut in the role of Gaudenzio in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino at the Spoleto Festival, Opera Magazine wrote, “…a fine young baritone is born, with a buoyant, lyric voice and stage presence.” Other notable European roles include Balstrode in Peter Grimes, Schaunard in La Bohème, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Sid in Albert Herring and the title role in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the Salzburger Festspielhaus. Recent concert appearances include the soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra), Brahms’s Ein Deutches Requiem (Cleveland Symphony) and Barber’s Dover Beach at the Eastman School of Music. This season, he presents a recital in Hatch Hall that includes the rarely heard masterwork, Songs and Dances of Death by Mussorgsky.
Gino has also dedicated his life to serving his community as an exemplary voice teacher, keeping a private studio for over 15 years, as well as full studios at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester, where he also teaches an introductory vocal pedagogy course and an audition technique workshop. Passionate about the Bel Canto school of singing, his philosophy is guided by a thorough, mechanical and scientific understanding of the voice and its development. He has completed an internship on speech pathology through the University of Rochester, studying voice therapy and rehabilitation. This fieldwork has allowed him to help diagnose, address and therapize various vocal issues his students may encounter. His expertise of music history, proficiency of foreign language and fluency regarding the aesthetics of singing in both the classical and musical theatre spheres make him an exemplary educator and pedagogue. His students have gone on to garner full scholarships at top music conservatories, win first places at national vocal competitions and star on Broadway, at international and domestic opera houses and regional theatre. Gino holds degrees from The Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam, The Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. When he is not singing and teaching, he is a visual artist, bookworm, cinephile and enjoys cooking feasts for his family and friends.