“A gifted and fiercely committed baritone
whose voice is spacious and reverberant”
-OPERA NEWS-
Robert Wesley Mason, a baritone who bridges traditional opera with contemporary storytelling, is a rare and compelling artist in the opera world. He possesses a unique versatility that allows him to excel in classical repertoire, contemporary operas, and cross-genre projects. His ability to embody complex, emotionally charged characters sets him apart, and his personal journey of resilience and transformation deeply informs his art.
The 2024/2025 season sees Wes debuting with Opera Grand Rapids in the role of Belcore in L’elisir d’amore followed by another company debut with Portland Opera reprising his acclaimed portrayal of Jack Torrance in Moravec and Campbell’s The Shining. Following The Shining, he joins the world premiere of Geter and Moo’s Loving v. Virginia as Richard Loving (Alt cast and cover) with his hometown opera organization Virginia Opera.
Mason’s engagements for the 2023-2024 season have included performances of a new music-theatre production created by Samantha Rose Williams entitled American Patriots with Renegade Opera and Salina Symphony, both the Michigan premiere of Jorge Martín-Buján’s The Glass Hammer and the role of John Cree in Elizabeth Cree at the University of Michigan, as well as a return to Detroit Opera to sing in John Cage’s Europeras: 3 & 4 and cover the role of The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen.
During the 2022-2023 season, Wes returned to Pensacola Opera for Carousel—reprising his signature role of Billy Bigelow—and made his role and company debut as Jack Torrance in Moravec and Campbell’s The Shining with Opera Parallèle, a performance widely applauded by both audiences and critics with Opera News praising Wes as “an articulate, explosive, first-rate Jack, with his dark, robust baritone and assured physicality.”
Often called upon to learn challenging music and embody emotionally complex characters with short notice, Wes has been passionately interpreting 21st century American opera roles since his tour de force debut as Reinaldo Arenas in the 2010 world premiere of Martín and Koch’s Before Night Falls with Fort Worth Opera. In 2021, Wes returned to Detroit Opera to perform the role of Figaro in Ragnar Kjartansson’s performance piece Bliss, a continuous 12-hour singing marathon based on Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in which he was the only cast member to remain on stage without taking break. Other contemporary highlights include Dax/Larry in the world premiere of Paterson and Cote’s Three Way with Nashville Opera and American Opera Project, Hannah Before in As One with Pensacola Opera, Eugene Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Jan Nyman in Breaking the Waves with West Edge Opera, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with Kentucky Opera, Jonathan in Siren Song with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Charlie in Three Decembers with Nashville Opera and Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and Father Flynn in Doubt with Union Avenue Opera.
In addition to his contemporary work, Wes has performed a variety of roles throughout the standard repertoire including the title role in Thomas’s Hamlet with Fort Worth Opera, the title role in Guillaume Tell with the Southern Illinois Music Festival, Ping in Turandot with Nashville Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Gulfshore Opera, Masetto in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia and Opera Naples, Achilla in Giulio Cesare with Opera Roanoke, Escamillo in Carmen with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Escamillo in La Tragédie de Carmen with Syracuse Opera, Marcello in La bohème with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Fort Worth Opera, and Norwalk Symphony, Schaunard in La bohème with the Crested Butte Music Festival, Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles with Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera, Sciarrone in Tosca with Dallas Opera, and Moralès in Carmen with the Glimmerglass Festival and Michigan Opera Theater.
In 2020, he made his Off-Broadway debut as Wotan/Gunther/Hagen in On Site Opera’s production of Das Barbecü. Other noted stage performances include Billy Bigelow in Carousel with Union Avenue Opera and Utah Festival Opera Musical Theater (UFOMT), Curly in Oklahoma! with Maryland Live Arts and UFOMT, Bishop Myriel in Les Misérables with UFOMT, Mac and Frank Butler (cover) in Annie Get Your Gun with the Glimmerglass Festival, and Elvis Costello’s The Juliet Letters with Urban Arias. He also has appeared with Opera Hong Kong as the baritone soloist in a musical theater greatest hits concert, Broadway Extravaganza.
Mason is featured on the world premiere cast recordings of University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance’s Music from Auschwitz (2023) as Bass/Prisoner A , Three Way (2017) as Dax/Larry under the Naxos label and Before Night Falls (2010) as Reinaldo Arenas with Albany Records. Wes was a recipient of a Career Development Award from the Sullivan Foundation, a Regional Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, an Encouragement Award Winner in the finals of the Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, a finalist in the Opera Index Competition, a three-time nominee for the Sarah Tucker Study Grant, and the recipient of the Earl V. Moore Award for outstanding contribution to the School of Music, Theater, and Dance at the University of Michigan where he received both his bachelor and doctoral degrees. Wes is also a graduate of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
