Canadian/Romanian dramatic baritone, Nicolae Raiciu began studying the violin at the age of seven. After completing his high school studies he gravitated towards opera and operatic vocal training. He was a voice student at the Romanian Musical University where he graduated with honours. Soon after, he was engaged at theBucharest Opera where he became one of the young and rising stars. Mr Raiciu and his family moved to Canada in 1992. In 1994 he performed Escamillo in Carmen with Opera Mississaugua. Most recently, in the Canadian Opera Company’s production ofSiegfried, Mr. Raiciu had the opportunity of stepping in to the role of Alberich and subsequently performed the last 4 performances to great acclaim. He performed the roles of Schlemil, Crespel and Luther in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Opéra de Québec and during the summer Mr. Raiciu toured with the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic performing in France and Spain. He made his debut with the Vancouver Opera in the role of the Sacristan (Tosca) and once again covered Scarpia (Tosca) with the COC. For Opera York he has performed the roles of Scarpia, Di Luna, and Rigoletto. For the Toronto Concert Orchestra he has performed as soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth on several occasions. He recently returned gave performances of Il Trovatore in the National Theatre of Bucharest. Mr. Raiciu has also performed with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra.
