Praised by Opera News as “utterly loveable, with an expansive sound and easy stage presence,” bass-baritone, Jesús Vicente Murillo has been performing opera, musical theater, concerts and art song across North America since making his debut with Michigan Opera Theatre as The Android in The Very Last Green Thing at the age of eighteen.
In the 2024-25 season, Murillo performs the role of Il Principe di Bouillon in Pittsburgh Opera’s Adriana Lecouvreur, and returns to Opera San José to play Schaunard in La Bohème and Sergeant José Maria Gomez in Héctor Armienta’s Zorro.
Last season, Murillo made his house debut with Portland Opera, where he “exhibited energy and style with a robust baritone” (Northwest Reverb) in the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro. He also joined the North Dakota State University Chamber Music Festival to sing the role of Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, and made house debuts at Anchorage Opera as the Commentator in Scalia/Ginsburg, Nashville Opera as Papageno in The Magic Flute, and the Helena Symphony as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, and sang as a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Concerts at St. Ignatius.
Murillo made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2022-23 season as a Flemish deputy in Don Carlo. His other recent roles have included César Chávez in the orchestra preview of Nicola Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch’s new work Dolores with West Edge Opera, Don Fernando in Fidelio with Opera Middlebury, and Figaro in ¡Figaro! (90210) with Chautauqua Opera. He played a “self-assured, assertive” Doctor Bartolo with a “vigorous, rich bass-baritone” (San Diego Story) in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Neo, a role he previously covered at Santa Fe Opera.
He has also sung the roles of Guillermo Kahlo/Rockefeller/E.G. Robinson/Petate Vendor in Frida, The Professor/Used Car Salesman in the world-premiere of Lisa Despain’s That Hell-Bound Train, the title role in Iannis Xenakis’s KassandraI, Leporello and Masetto in Don Giovanni, and Betto in Gianni Schicchi/Buoso’s Ghost. He has performed with companies including Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theatre, El Paso Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Baltimore Concert Opera, Bare Opera, the Chamber Cartel of Atlanta, and has made numerous appearances with Opera Saratoga, Opera Louisiane, Charlottesville Opera, Caramoor and Opera in Williamsburg. In 2019 Murillo completed a two-year residency with Utah Opera where he sang over 450 performances with the company.
Murillo received his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Music in Opera and Voice Performance from McGill University in Montréal, Québec.
