“Angel Raii Gomez (Ernesto) was the Audience Choice winner at last year’s Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, and indeed his liquid, warmly Mediterranian timbre is a crowd-pleasing sound; he’s also an appealing presence. When Gomez eases up – as in both the “Sogno soave e casto” and “Tornami a dir” – he’s a rising star”
– Parterre Box 2023

Angel Raii Gomez
Tenor

Angel Raii Gomez, an emerging voice on the opera stage, is currently a fourth-year resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts. Praised by critics for his “stage personality, tremendous wit and flare, and a heart-stopping pretty lyric tone”, he won the 2023 first prize in the prestigious Meistersinger Competition at AIMS in Graz, Austria, the 2023 first prize in the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, and in 2024 he was a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

In the 2024-25 season he sings the title roles in Mascagni’s  L’amico Fritz and Gounod’s Faust both at AVA.  This past summer he debuted the roles of Duca di Mantova in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Pluton in Offenbach’s Orpheé aux enfers with Opera North in New Hampshire, and performed Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony with the Ocean City Pops.

Last season Angel debuted the role of Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at the Academy of Vocal Arts, followed by his much-anticipated debut there as Conte Almaviva in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Other roles he has performed at AVA include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Gastone in La Traviata, and Triquet in Eugene Onegin.  He has also performed Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Don Jose in Carmen, Podesta in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the New Jersey Master Chorale.