With a velvety tone and a stage presence which exudes confidence and charm, Levi Hernandez has made a name for himself in a wide variety of baritone repertoire. Opera News has praised him for his “voice with natural power,” and “warm, inviting baritone.”

The El Paso native has joined the rosters of leading opera companies including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, and Houston Grand Opera (where he debuted as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly).

Mr. Hernandez’s 2025-2026 season includes performances of Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Virginia Opera and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Opera Colorado.

The 2024-2025 season saw his return to Madison Opera for Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with the Washington Concert Opera, Handel‘s Messiah with the Tucson Symphony, a reprise of the role of Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with North Carolina Opera, Mozart’s Requiem with the Utah Symphony, and La bohème with Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Recent seasons have included appearances with Opera San Antonio as the Father in Hansel and Gretel; Boston Lyric Opera as Dandini in La Cenerentola; Hawaii Opera Theatre as Tonio in Pagliacci; Opera Omaha as Diego Rivera in El último sueño de Frida y Diego; Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera, Madison Opera, and Arizona Opera; Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with North Carolina Opera; the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Tulsa Opera and Intermountain Opera (now Opera Montana); Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Montana, Virginia Opera, Lake George Operaand Cedar Rapids Opera; a continuation of his long-standing relationship with the work of composer Daniel Catan as Rappaccini in La hija de Rappaccini with Chicago Opera Theater; and cover assignments with The Metropolitan Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, the title role in The Death of Klinghoffer, and productions of Die Frau ohne Schatten and Carmen.

Additional past appearances include Tonio in Pagliacci with Opera Colorado and El Paso Opera; Aba in El milagro del recuerdo with Houston Grand Opera; Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath with Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Marcello in La bohème with Opera Colorado, Opera Memphis, San Antonio Opera, and El Paso Opera; Inspector Kildare in Elizabeth Cree with Chicago Opera Theater; Ford in Falstaff with Opera Montana; Sonora in La fanciulla del West with Opera Omaha; Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Opera Omaha; Dandini in La Cenerentola with Opera Roanoke and Opera North; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Madison Opera; Germont in La traviatawith Opera Roanoke and Opera Montana; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Pine Mountain Music Festival; Guglielmo in Le Villi with the Spoleto Festival, USA; Guglielmo/Remigio in Le Villi/La Navarraise at Bard Music Festival; Tobias Mill in La cambiale di matrimonio with Opera Omaha; Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Valentin in Faust with the Kalamazoo Symphony; Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Moralès in Carmen, and Haly in L’italiana in Algeri, all with Opera Philadelphia; Don Lucas in Luisa Fernanda, Sciarrone in Tosca, and Crébillon in La rondine with LA Opera; a European début with Komische Oper Berlin as Tomski in Pique Dame and performances of the title role in Gianni Schicchi and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador.

Mr. Hernandez has been seen on the concert platform as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Kansas City Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Oregon Symphony, El Paso Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Cheyenne Symphony, among others; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra; Handel’s Alexander’s Feast with Music of the Baroque; Dvorak’s Te Deum with Shippensburg Music Festival; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Pennsylvania Ballet.  

A 2002 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions finalist, Hernandez’s awards also include a Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation grant as well as placing as a finalist in the 2002 Operalia competition. With degrees from Westminster Choir College and the University of North Texas, Mr. Hernandez also attended the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and was a member of the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago.