From: Manila, Philippines. LA Opera: Goro in Madama Butterfly (2012, debut; 2024); Spoletta in Tosca (2013); Bardolph in Falstaff (2013); Monostatos in The Magic Flute (2013); First Jew in Salome (2017); Spalanzani in The Tales of Hoffmann (2017); Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro (2022).
Originally from the Philippines, Grammy-nominated tenor Rodell Aure Rosel appears regularly in major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Royal Opera House. He is primarily known for his superb portrayals of character roles: Monostatos, Goro, Mime and Loge, Basilio, Tanzmeister, Spoletta, and the Four Servants in The Tales of Hoffmann. In the 2023-24 season, Mr. Rosel will appear with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as the Cleveland Orchestra as Monastatos in The Magic Flute, Boston Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera as Goro in Madama Butterfly, Austin Opera as Beppe in Pagliacci, and Calgary Opera as Loge in Das Rheingold, among other performances.
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier, opposite Renee Fleming, Susan Graham and Sir Thomas Allen. He originated the roles of Ong Chi Seng in Paul Moravec’s The Letter at Santa Fe Opera, as well as Anthony Candolino in Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie’s Great Scott at Dallas Opera, which starred Joyce DiDonato and Frederica von Stade, conducted by Patrick Summers.
As Monostatos in The Magic Flute, he debuted in the David McVicar production at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, U.S.-premiered in the Barry Kosky production at LA Opera, and the Julie Taymor production at the Metropolitan Opera. In addition, he has sung the title roles in Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf, and Britten’s Albert Herring, as well as Tamino in The Magic Flute and Don José in Carmen. He recently made his house and role debut as Calaf in Turandot with Opera Southwest, and will make his house and role debut as Beppe in Pagliacci with Austin Opera. He has collaborated with esteemed directors of both film and theater, including Michael Grandage, John Caird, Bartlett Sher, James Gray, and David McVicar, as well as world-renowned conductors James Conlon, Carlo Rizzi, Emmanuel Villaume, Sir Andrew Davis, Franz Welser-Möst, and the late Bruno Bartoletti.
Rodell was a grand prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (formerly the National Council Auditions), and a prize winner in the Lotte Lenya Vocal Competition, Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, and the Jose Iturbi International Competition. He was part of the Grammy-nominated cast of John Musto’s opera, Volpone. He is an alumnus of Santa Monica College and UCLA, attended the Music Academy of the West, and trained at Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center (formerly Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.) He continues to study with internationally-acclaimed heldentenor Timothy Mussard.
Learn more at RoRoTheTenor.com.
