Meet Ai.

Noted for his “clean, shiny top register” and “supple voice underneath,” young American Tenor Ai Ra (he/they) has proven himself to be a versatile and capable performer on concert, opera, and musical theatre stages. They debut with Seagle Music Festival this summer, singing Roméo (Roméo et Juliette) and Padre Antonio (With Blood, With Ink). Ai looks forward to his debut with St. Petersburg Opera in the 2023/24 season, singing Pang (Turandot). They return to Boston Youth Symphony for Norma, and they Teatro Nuovo as chorus in Callas: Past and Future. This summer, Ai is an Apprentice Artist with Teatro Nuovo, covering the leading role of Edemondo in the modern premiere of Carolina Uccelli's Anna di Resburgo with performances at Montclair State University and the Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

 
Ai has emerged from the pandemic as a regular soloist throughout the northeastern United States, performing Gastone (La traviata) in both the immersive on-site production with MassOpera in October of 2021 as well as with Lighthouse Opera in summer 2022. An avid new music performer, Ai performed the Bishop of Puebla/Sor Filotea in the professional premiere of Carla Lucero’s Juana this past summer with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble. Simultaneously, they explored early music in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria as the conniving suitor Pisandro. Ai joins SAS Performing Arts Company as Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro) and in his role debut as Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola) in the fall of 2022. He will also join City Lyric Opera in the professional premiere of Lori Laitman's Uncovered and Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live! as Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac. They make their straight play debut as Jarrett (Kent u/s) in The Why Collective's world premiere of The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space.

Prior to the pandemic, Ai was onstage with UMKC Conservatory Opera, Opera in the Ozarks, and is a founding member of the Landlocked Opera Inc. company, where he played the Defendant in their inaugural production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury followed shortly by Monostatos in their production of Die Zauberflöte.

While pursuing their Master of Music, Ai performed major roles in every opera staged at the UMKC Conservatory. In the fall of 2018, he performed the role of Don Anchise, the Podestà of Lagonero, in Mozart’s early comedy La finta giardiniera. Following that performance, they took on the role of Gabriel von Eisenstein in a new translation of Die Fledermaus by tenor Doug Jones and the title role in Dido and Aeneas directed by Kirsten Cairns.

​In the summer of 2018, Ai made his role debut as Il Conte d'Almaviva in Rossini's beloved comedy Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Opera in the Ozarks, where OperaWire praised him as “an Almaviva in the making,” citing his “top register a la Juan Diego Florez” and “great comedic instincts.” In that same season, they also performed as Dr. Blind in Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus. In 2017, he was featured as the swindling curmudgeon Mynheer Vanderdendur in Florida State Opera's production of Bernstein's Candide and as 1st Armored Man in Quincy Music Theatre's production of The Magic Flute.

​In the summer of 2017, Ai made his international debut as Mr. Splinters in the European premiere of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land at the Varna International Opera Academy in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, they also served as the tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem. Other past performances include Male Swing, Fyedka, and the Russian Soloist in Fiddler on the Roof at Quincy Music Theatre, the Swing in Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar also at Quincy Music Theatre, and Giuseppe Zangara in New Stage TheatreWorks' production of Sondheim's Assassins.

Ai earned his Master of Music at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory, and he is a proud alumnus of the Florida State University.