American baritone Robert Mellon was acclaimed by Opera News for having “excellent comic timing,” and a “domineering baritone, gleaming like polished copper.” In the 2020-21 season he made several role and house debuts: Schaunard in La bohème with San Diego Opera, Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Opera Las Vegas, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Union Avenue Opera, and with Opera de Oviedo, Marcello in La bohème and Gubetta in Lucrezia Borgia. In 2022, Robert joins Pensacola Opera as Papageno in The Magic Flute, sings his first Iago in Othello with InSeries Opera, debuts with Opera Philadelphia as Marullo in Rigoletto, and returns to Opera Maine for a gala concert. Robert also sings the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff with Union Avenue Opera and joins Tulsa Opera as Taddeo in L’Italiana in Algeri. In 2023 he returns to Pensacola Opera for Marcello in La bohème, Germont in La traviata with Opera Las Vegas, Tonio in Pagliacci with Opera Tampa and George in Of Mice and Men with Livermore Valley Opera.

 

The 2019-20 season included company debuts with Opera de Oviedo as Simone in Eine Florentinische Tragödie and Tonio in Pagliacci; the title role in Gianni Schicchi and Simone in Eine Florentinische Tragödie with Livermore Valley Opera, where the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “Baritone Robert Mellon was both the musical star of the performance and its dramatic vertex…with a steely vocal edge that never interfered with the beauty and flexibility of his singing.” Mr. Mellon reprised the roles of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Maine and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Syracuse Opera.

 

In 2018-19 Robert sang the world premiere of Dear Erich with New York City Opera and Leporello in Don Giovanni with Syracuse Opera, then returned to Shreveport Opera for Bernardo in West Side Story. He has performed leading roles with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The National Sawdust Festival, the Peoria Symphony, and been a guest artist with Manhattan School of Music and Rutgers University. Other roles include Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, and Macbeth in the U.S. premiere of Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth. Concert work includes the Mozart and Duruflé Requiem, Dvorak’s Te Deum, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Bach’s Magnificat, and Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death.