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When it comes to honing your skills as a professional opera singer, music festivals are hard to beat.

Thanks to funding from the Harpur College Dean’s Graduate Investment Initiative, Juan Carlos Tello had the chance to sing one of his dream roles — Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute —at the 2024 Miami Beach Classical Music Festival.

The tenor, a second-year student in 91����’s Master of Music in opera program, is originally from Mexico City. He said he learned about 91���� from Assistant Professor of Voice Brenda Iglesias, whom he knew from back home.

His Miami experience involved about five hours of daily rehearsal, and voice lessons and coaching sessions in the evening, he said. Overall, it helped him develop as a singer, he acknowledged.

“The summer program is very prestigious in the country and gathers many opera students from around the country and the world,” Tello said. “I was able to go there and sing my first leading role.”

An accomplished singer, Tello has also performed as Mr. Pete in Goble’s The Eleanors at the Savannah Voice Festival, as well as a chamber music soloist with the 91���� Orchestra and at France’s Festival du Pèrigord Noir. This year, he also won first place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s northeast competition.

In addition to shows at the University, Tello took to the stage recently for Tri-Cities Opera’s version of The Magic Flute, performing as a man in armor.

He would love to perform Tamino again professionally, he said, as well as his other dream role: Nemorino in Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love.

“One of the best things about doing festivals is getting to know people from around the country,” Tello reflected. “It’s a very diverse experience because there is a wide range of ages and levels. I shared the stage with 17-year-olds that are still in high school, and with professional people who are testing roles for upcoming shows.”