American baritone, Craig Francis Smith is a Rochester, NY native. Mr. Smith has performed with Charlottesville Opera, Annapolis Opera, the Maryland Opera Studio, the Janiec Opera Company at The Brevard Music Center, and the award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble. Recent credits include Big Jule in Guys and Dolls, The Jailor in Tosca Schaunard in La bohème, Leporello in Don Giovanni, The Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, The title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, Ronaldo Cabral in Later the Same Evening, Second Armoured Man/First Priest in Die Zauberflöte, The Duke in Romeo et Juliette, Ivan in Die Fledermaus, and The Superintendent in Tom Cipullo’s world premiere of Mayo, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, Simone in Buoso’s Ghost. Mr. Smith has won numerous awards; Honors in Performance from the Crane School of Music, 1st place in the Classical Singer Magazine Competition at the Regional Level in 2017 and 2019, and 2nd place at the Central New York National Association of Teachers of Singing in 2018. He has sung in masterclasses for Sherrill Milnes, Sidney Outlaw, Richard Margison, Darren Keith Woods, Suzanne Hendrix, Jennifer Holloway, and Lisa Vroman. Mr. Smith has received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he studied with Dr. Colleen Skull. He recently graduated with a Master of Music from the University of Maryland as a part of the Maryland Opera Studio, where he studied with world-renowned bass-baritone Kevin Short.