Benjamin Lee, described as a “tenore di grazia with effortless high notes and flawless fioriture,” (http://seenandheard-international.com) received his Artist Diploma and master’s degree at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Musicunder the instruction of Tom Baresel. In 2015, he received the John Alexander Award at the Conservatory’s annual Corbett Opera Competition. In the summer of 2017, he made his debut as a Gaddes Festival Artist in Opera Theatre of St. Louis‘s production of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos as Brighella under the baton of maestro Rory Macdonald and director Sean Curran. Benjamin joined Cincinnati Opera in the summer of 2017 in their production of Frida as both Alejandro and Leon Trotsky, as well as the Tenor in their production of Song from the Uproar. In February 2018, Benjamin is looking forward to singing the role of Lurcanio in Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s production of Händel’s Ariodante, as well as a workshop in March in conjunction with Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati opera, and Canadian Opera Company in a workshop of acclaimed songwriter Rufus Wainwright’s opera in progress as Antinous in Hadrian. Benjamin also returns to Cincinnati Opera in June 2018 to sing various roles in their production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, including Lucano, Famigliari, Littore, and Tribuno.
Past engagements affiliated with the Conservatory include #5 in Transformations, Arbace in Idomeneo, Florville in Rossini’s Il signor Bruschino, Lucano in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Gopinath in the CCM Opera Fusion workshop of Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown. Additionally, Benjamin sang the role in the workshop of Albert in Laura Kaminsky’s Some Light Emerges, which he went on to revisit at Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco. Benjamin has also sung in the New Orleans’ premiere of Jukebox Castle‘s production of Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins as the role of Father.
A Los Angeles native, Benjamin received his bachelor’s degree in Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California, studying under Gary Glaze. His engagements at the university included Lucano in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, First Commissioner in Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites, and Il conte Libenskof in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims. In 2013 he also performed the role of Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.
Benjamin Lee is currently a member of the solo ensemble at Theater Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany, where he has sung the roles of Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Paris in La Belle Hélène, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mottel in Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof), Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, Roderigo in Otello. Pong in Turandot, and 2nd Nazarene in Salome.
In the season of 2022/2021 in Theater Magdeburg, Benjamin sang the roles of Fenton in Falstaff, Sam Kaplan in Street Scene, Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette, Borsa in Rigoletto, Ottokar in Zigeunerbaron, as well as a guest appearance in the Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen as Rodrigo in G. Rossini’s Otello
In summer 2022, Benjamin made his debut in Seefestspiele Mörbisch’s “The King and I” in three separate roles – as Kralahome, Lun Tha, as well as the King. He returned to the United States to sing Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Opera Columbus.
