Richard Ollarsaba, Mexican-American bass-baritone, is praised by The Washington Post for his “meltingly smooth bass-baritone” and for “evoking a young Ruggero Raimondi in looks and manner,” will be representing the USA in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, was a member of the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago for three seasons and a grand finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. This season, he returns to Piedmont Opera for his role debut as Colline in La bohème and North Carolina Opera as Escamillo in Carmen, a role he will reprise in his debut with Annapolis Opera. He will also debut in the title of role of Don Giovanni with Opera Hong Kong. In the 2017-2018 season, he returned to Minnesota Opera in the title role in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, debuted with Virginia Opera in Lucia di Lammermoor as Raimondo, and performed the role of Pistola in Falstaff, both in his debut with Opera Omaha and Intermountain Opera Bozeman.