Hailed for his “consistent vocal ease and dramatic flair,” baritone Ron Loyd “delivers above and beyond the call” in repertoire ranging from Verdi to Sondheim.

Engagements for the 2007-08 season include two Mozart masterpieces as he makes his role debut as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera Southwest’s 35th anniversary season and returns to Pensacola Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Loyd makes his house debut with Nevada Opera in 2008 as Peter in Hansel and Gretel before returning to New York City to appear in concert with The Dessoff Choirs under the direction of James Bagwell for In Sound and Word: Exploring 19th to 20th Century American Works. This summer, Mr. Loyd returns to Light Opera Oklahoma as the Baker in Into the Woods, the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, and the Captain in Candide before returning to Opera Southwest as Frank in Die Fledermaus.

Previous highlights for the baritone include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with El Paso Opera, Mobile Opera, and Opera Southwest; Marcello in La Bohème with Opera Southwest, Ping in Turandot with Mobile and Pensacola Operas, Schaunard in La Bohème with Des Moines Metro Opera, Pensacola Opera and National Lyric Opera; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Southwest; and Germont in La Traviata with Bronx Opera and the New Operafestival di Roma Symphony in Rome, Italy.

A house favorite at Light Opera Oklahoma, Mr. Loyd recently portrayed Stephen Sondheim's demon barber Sweeney Todd for the first time. The Tulsa World wrote that Mr. Loyd's performance was “electrifying in its intensity” and "stunning in its ferocity" and voted the show as Tulsa’s “Best Night of Theatre” in 2007. Also with Light Opera Oklahoma, Mr. Loyd's Spanish zarzuela debut earned “nothing less than marvelous” in the title role of Barbieri’s El Barberillo de Lavapiés while his Emile de Becque in South Pacific was called “a remarkable performance – his voice warm, resonant, and powerful.”

Since making his professional operatic debut as Horace Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe with Amarillo Opera, Mr. Loyd has performed internationally in China as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia; in Barbados, West Indies as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly; and in Italy as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with the International Lyric Academy in Rome. In the US, Mr. Loyd created the role of Guido in the world stage premiere of Un Racconto Fiorentino (Louis Gioia) with New Jersey Verismo Opera and has appeared with Pensacola Opera and Opera Southwest as Don Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia; Center City Opera Theater as Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors; Opera Iowa and Center City Opera Theater as Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore; Natchez Festival of Music as Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and Light Opera Oklahoma as Harold Hill in The Music Man and John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer. As a young artist, Mr. Loyd apprenticed with Chautauqua Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Lake George Opera performing mainstage roles and cover assignments that included Germont and Baron Douphol in La Traviata, Falstaff in Falstaff, Morales in Carmen, Peter in Hansel and Gretel, and Miller in Verdi’s Luisa Miller.

Concert appearances have included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra; Viva Verdi! with the Chautauqua Symphony under the baton of Metropolitan Opera conductor Joseph Colaneri; Palm Beach Opera’s Music for the Mind concert series; Sarasota Opera’s American Music Concert; Holiday Pops concerts with the Charlotte Symphony (FL) and the Gulf Coast Symphony (FL); and West Side Story in Concert with the Fort Worth Symphony. Additional concert repertoire includes the Requiems of Brahms, Faure and Mozart; Schubert’s Mass in G and Mass in B flat; Handel’s Messiah; Beethoven’s Mass in C; and song and opera recitals in Texas, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina, New York, and Rome, Italy.

Mr. Loyd has been awarded numerous grants and scholarships from the Martina Arroyo Foundation, International Lyric Academy in Rome, the Liberace Foundation, and the Sybil B. Harrington Foundation and is a multiple prizewinner in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Texoma Region Competition.

The youngest of five boys, Ron was born in Tennessee to an Italian mother and a Welsh father, raised in Texas, and now makes his home in New York City.

materials updated Feb 10, 2008