Baritone and Philadelphia native, Matthew Maisano (they/them) enjoys performing a variety of both classical and popular repetoire. Known for their “sonorous baritone” (Broad Street Review) and “commanding stage presence," (Miami Herald), Matthew has sung with many local and regional opera companies. Most recently, Matthew joined the Hogfish Festival in Cape Elizabeth, ME for their inaugural production of Gluck's L'arbre enchanté as a wood sprite and as cover for Thomas.

 

Other recent operatic engagements include, appearing as a soloist in Lancaster Symphony's Neighborhood Concert Series singing Leporello in scenes from Mozart's Don Giovanni and Schlendrian in scenes from Bach's Coffee Cantata under the baton of Chelsea Gallo. This past December, Matthew sang their fourth Melchior in Menotti's beloved classic, Amahl and the Night Visitors with Three Oaks Opera conducted by Opera Philadelphia's Liz Braden. Last September, Matthew made their debut with Alter Ego Chamber Opera as Melissa in a queer retelling of Handel's Alcina entitled, Alcina REVAMPED as part of the Philly Fringe Festival!

Additional 2021-2022 highlights include a joint operatic cabaret curated with soprano Rachel Sigman entitled, A Light in the Dark: A Holiday Cabaret of classical and popular music as a part of Multicultural Arts Exhange's Musika Series at the historic Glen Foerd Mansion. In February, Matthew returned to A1-Entertainment in an all Johnny Mathis program along side pianist Eric Smrcka at the Timbers in Mt. Gretna, PA for Larry McKenna's Cabaret at the Timbers series. Matthew also performed in a number of concerts with Opera on Tap: Philadelphia and Trinity Swarthmore. 

 

Matthew begins the 2022-2023 season this October returning to Baltimore Musicales as a soloist in The Sound of Solace — a stunning program of songs and spirituals exploring the ways in which we find solace.  Matthew will perform Ravel's Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques with pianist, Patti Amato. This past February, Matthew debuted with Baltimore Musicales in Love is in the Air singing love songs by Schubert, Barber, Hahn, Fauré, and Bizet. As a winner for their 2022/2023 Classical Recital Competition, Matthew will present an art song recital  (program TBA) at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, MD!

Matthew returns to Opera Philadelphia in February 2023 to sing in the chorus of Orff's Carmina Burana as well as in the chorus of Puccini's La Bohemè in April 2023. This past January, Matthew appeared in his 3rd production with Opera Philadelphia in the chorus of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. In May 2023, Matthew returns to Lancaster's Penn Square Music Festival singing the role of Sacristan in Puccini's greatest drama, Tosca. Matthew made their debut with PSMF back in 2019 singing Strong Man in Fox's Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing.

Matthew's other operatic highlights include, The Title Role in Eugene Onegin (Russian Opera Workshop), Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Wilmington Concert Opera and Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater), Pandolfe in Cendrillon 

(Miami Music Festival), Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Natchez Festival of Music), Morbio in Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau, Baptista in Kiss Me, Kate! (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief and First Stepsister in Martin's The True Story of Cinderella (Opera Tutti), Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus and Albert in Werther (Temple University Opera Theater), The Witch in Hansel and Gretel (Opera on Tap: Philadelphia),  Antonio in The Gondoliers (Greensboro Light Opera & Song), and in the chorus of Prokoviev's The Love For Three Oranges, and Verdi's Requiem (Opera Philadelphia). 

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A performer of concert and sacred works, Matthew traveled to Haiti in January 2019 to perform in a collaborative concert with Trinity Episcopal Church (Swarthmore, PA), The Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) and The Institution St. Louis de Gonzague (Port-au-Prince, Haiti). The concert included many sacred and Haitian choral works as well as Schubert’s Mass in G, in which Matthew was the baritone soloist. Matthew made their Kimmel Center solo debut in November, 2018 singing the bass solos in Bach’s Magnificat and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Philadelphia’s VoxAmaDeus Ensemble. In 2017, Matthew sang Siméon in Debussy's L'enfant prodigue with Trinity Episcopal Church (Swarthmore, PA). They were also the baritone soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at Fairmount Presbyterian Church (Cleveland Heights, OH), Bach's Cantata 140, Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, and Schubert’s Mass in G and Mass in C at Trinity. During their time in Cleveland, Matthew performed with Case Western Reserve University’s Baroque Chamber Ensemble, Baroque Orchestra, and Collegium as a baritone soloist in Bach’s Cantata 58, Bruhn’s De Profundis, and Merula’s Credidi. They also frequently appear with The Rose Tree Pops Orchestra of Media, PA singing musical theater, American Song Book classics, and even larger classic works like Copland's Folk Song Arrangements for voice and orchestra! 

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An avid recitalist, Matthew is now in their second year performing with Baltimore Musicales! In 2016, Matthew participated in Cleveland's famous Art Song Festival singing in a number of masterclasses and recitals. In 2013, Matthew collaborated with mezzo-soprano Anna Saurman to create and perform a program entitled Unsex me Here: A Recital Challenging Gender in Art Song performed at Temple University. That same year, he premiered The Broken Ground: Seven Poems of Wendell Berry, a song set composed by Ryan Carson at Cairn University. Matthew frequently gives recitals with soprano, Tracy Sturgis and pianist, James Smith at Trinity Episcopal Church (Swarthmore, PA) each year with programs of varied art song repertoire.

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Matthew holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music (Cleveland, OH) and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Temple University (Philadelphia. PA).