Livermore Valley Opera Bios

Countertenor Ryan Belongie is an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera.  He was the first prize winner of the 2008 and 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the central region, and has gone on to be a national semi-finalist.  The Chicago Sun-Times has noted him as a countertenor with “…a sunny high tone that moved effortlessly…”  Mr. Belongie has just completed the Merola Opera Program where he performed the title role in scenes from Orfeo ed Euridice, Arsemene in scenes from Xerses, and Toby in The Medium.  San Francisco Classical Voice wrote, “Belongie sang a gorgeous Orfeo…”  Of the Merola Grand Finale, the Bay City News Service noted, “There were many champagne moments: Countertenor Ryan Belongie’s raging song of love from Handel’s Xerses tops the list…” 

Having begun his career on the concert stage, Mr. Belongie has appeared as a soloist with the Grant Park Music Festival and frequently with Music of the Baroque.  He has been heard on WFMT radio network in all performances with Music of the Baroque and performed a solo recital on the network’s series, “Live from WFMT.”  In addition to radio broadcasts, Mr. Belongie was a featured soloist on WTTW public television in A Renaissance Christmas.  He has also appeared as a soloist with the William Ferris Chorale, Kishwaukee Symphony, Janus Ensemble, and Elgin Choral Union.  Solo appearances include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bach’s Magnificat and Cantata No. 6, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Missa Brevis, Händel’s Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Vivaldi’s Gloria and Stabat Mate. 

In addition to awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Mr. Belongie was the winner of the 2009 Lola Fletcher award from the American Opera Society and was the recipient of a 2009 Richard F. Gold career grant from the Shoshana Foundation.  Future engagements include the role of Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Wolf Trap Opera, as well as joining the rosters of the San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he will make his debut in 2012.  Mr. Belongie is a graduate of the Vocal Honors Program at Northwestern University.