Gualtiero Negrini

His great uncle, the tenor Carlo Negrini, created the role of Gabriele Adorno for Giuseppe Verdi, in the premiere of Simon Boccanegra in Venice in 1857.

Although he spent time there as a child and in subsequent years, he was actually born at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in California, and considers himself a proud Angeleno.

In 2000, Negrini conducted and produced the popular recording, Broadway Classic, featuring the renowned musical theater soprano, Lisa Vroman.

He began with the USC Opera Workshop, after being offered a position as a repertoire coach there at the tender age of 16, and has maintained private teaching studios in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City.

Negrini made his singing debut at age 15, as Dr. Malatesta in a production of Don Pasquale mounted by a small company known as L'Opera Comique of Los Angeles that was founded by his father.

He made history at Lyric Opera of Chicago when in 1982, at the age of 21, he replaced Gösta Winbergh as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, making him the youngest tenor ever to sing a leading role there.

In February 2018, he will be featured in a new episode of the hit FX series Baskets, sharing the screen with Zach Galifianakis, and the Emmy Award – winning Louie Anderson.

While in Los Angeles performing in The Phantom of the Opera, he was asked to appear in period comedy The Marrying Man, starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, in a scene as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.