"ONE OF THE PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR."
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
"As Bucefalo, baritone Armando Contreras winningly overplayed the virtuoso farce, which was neither too lowbrow nor too highbrow. This will go down as one of the performances of the year."
ABOUT ARMANDO
Praised by the LA Times for giving “One of the Performances of the Year,” Mexican-American baritone Armando Contreras is quickly becoming a standout in the world of opera. He was recently featured in Opera America Magazine as one of the rising stars in opera. In the 2025/2026 season, following summer performances of his signature role of Lt. Roberto Gonzalez in The Knock with Central City Opera, Armando sings the title role in The Old Man and the Sea with Opera Columbus. He also appears in Zorro with both Arizona Opera and Pacific Opera Project and in Offenbach's Songbird with Kentucky Opera. In the previous season, Armando sang three title roles, appearing first in Antonio Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo with Pacific Opera Project, then as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Las Vegas, and finally in Gianni Schicchi with Salt Marsh Opera. ​
HIS RICH, CARAMEL VOICE VAULTED IMPLORINGLY IN PRAYER.
"The easy caramel syrup of his voice grows ever richer as it vaults imploringly in prayer, and he makes compelling sense of Gonzalez's emotional landscape - a heavy combination of resentment, compassion, and duty-bound determination."
OPERA TODAY
The Knock
EQUALLY AT HOME IN CLASSIC COMEDIES AND GRIPPING NEW WORKS.
Armando's diverse repertoire includes classic roles like Papageno (The Magic Flute), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Il conte (Le nozze di Figaro), and Dandini (La Cenerentola) as well as modern premeires like Don Bucefalo and Don Procopio. He is also deeply passionate about new works, having performed in multiple productions of Zorro and The Old Man and the Sea. He also originated the roles of Lucca in Tenor Overboard and Lt. Roberto Gonzales in The Knock, the latter of which he has performed in every production to date.
Armando Contreras and Kaitlyn Rittner perform Figaro's aria, "Largo al factotum," from Il barbiere di Siviglia.