Victor Cardamone is garnering critical acclaim for his “gorgeous and sizeable high lyric tenor” (Classical Sonoma) and “thrilling” performances (San Francisco Chronicle). The tenor recently completed his second season as an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, where he performed the roles of Stone/Eunuch in Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber, Rodolfo in “Bohème Out of the Box,” Apparition of a Youth in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and First Brabant Nobleman in Lohengrin; and covered roles including Triquet in Eugene Onégin, Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Gastone in La Traviata, Hunchback in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Second Villager/Young Man in El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, and Steve Wozniak in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
In March 2024, Cardamone makes his house debut with Livermore Valley Opera in the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute, which he also performed with the Santa Rosa Symphony in 2023. His “beautiful, very strong and clear” voice (The Opera Tattler) has also been heard with the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, Opera Columbus, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Wolf Trap Opera, the Charleston Symphony, and Brevard Music Center. His additional role credits include Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Larry Renault (Dinner at Eight), Jeník (The Bartered Bride), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), and Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia); and he has covered Ernesto in Don Pasquale and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.
As a member of Opera Fusion: New Works, he lent his voice to the first workshops and studio recordings for Eurydice (co-commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera), Blind Injustice (sponsored by the Ohio Innocence Project), and The Hours (co-commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra).
Cardamone was a four-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, receiving the sole Encouragement Award in the 2017-18 season and taking second place in 2021-22. He was also a four-time Corbett Competition award winner, receiving the Seybold-Russell Award, The Corbett Award (top prize), the Corbett Opera Award, and the Andrew White Memorial Award. He counts among his accolades a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation in 2022. He has been a semi-finalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition, a Tier I finalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, and a quarterfinalist in the 3rd Tbilisi Opera Crown, an international voice competition that takes place biannually in Georgia.
Originally from the Pittsburgh area, Cardamone earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Youngstown State University, with a double major in applied voice and French Horn. He took additional coursework at Ball State University, where he served as a graduate teaching assistant in the voice department, before transferring to the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and earning both his Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance and his Artist Diploma in Opera Studies.
Cardamone trained with Misook Yun, Jon Truitt, and Tom Baresel, and has coached with Hyery Hwang, Kathleen Kelly, and Marie-France Lefebvre. An avid Schubert Lieder enthusiast, he has studied with Kenneth Griffiths and performed the songs of 1817, Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, and Schwanengesang. He has also studied conducting with the late Stephen Gage, as well as somatic body movement and The Grief Recovery Method® with Susan Moser.
Driven by a voracious artistic appetite, Cardamone grew up steeped in the sounds of the Baptist church, among a family of deacons, missionaries, and pastors. He views performing as a way of serving his community, while paying forward the love and support he has received. When not singing or studying scores, Victor can be found making something delicious in the kitchen and chilling with his favorite feline, a black cat named Bill.
