Franco Pomponi is critically acclaimed for the rich, expressive beauty and powerful virility of his voice, with a cultivated musical style, and unmatched dramatic intensity which has brought him to many of the world’s most prestigious opera houses and concert halls. His European debut came as Hamlet at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona and success followed worldwide. He created a sensation as Pentheus in Henze’s The Bassarids at the Chatelet in Paris and has returned to sing the title roles of Nixon in China (broadcast on Mezzo) and Sweeney Todd. He debuted in Geneva as Paolo in Simon Boccanegra and at Opernhaus Zürich in a new production of Les pêcheurs de perles as Zurga. In Moscow Franco performed title role of Don Giovanni for his debut at The Bolshoi Opera and in Budapest in a new production of The Tempest as Prospero for the Hungarian State Opera. Franco was member of the elite Lyric Opera of Chicago young artist program and made his Chicago debut as Germont in Verdi’s La traviata. He made his New York debut as Escamillo in Carmen at New York City Opera and the next season he joined The Metropolitan Opera. He sang Ford in Falstaff for the Canadian Opera in Toronto and The Santa Fe Opera. Franco received a full fellowship to the Opera Center at The Juilliard School and was the first recipient of the DeRosa Prize, Juilliard’s distinguished award for achievement. Franco won the International Art Song contest with his first solo recording Death is the Cool Night, lieder of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms to the poetry of Heine. Franco has performed leading baritone roles at major Opera houses and Concert Halls worldwide. EUROPE and beyond - Liceo Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Bolshoi Moscow, La Monnaie Brussels , Opernhaus Zürich, Grand Theatre Geneva, Opéra Lausanne, Chatelet Paris, Opéra Comique, Royal Theatre Versailles, Marseille, Montpellier, Opéra Nice, Opéra du Rhin Strasbourg, Tours, Vichy, Den Haag, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Teatro Lirico Cagliari, Italy, Greek National Opera, Athens, Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, Guangzhou Opera, China, Doha Opera House, Qatar AMERICAS - Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Festival of Chicago, Spoleto Festival, San Diego Opera, Saratoga, Boston Lyric, Opera Omaha, Dallas Opera, Austin Lyric, San Antonio, Portland Opera, Eugene Opera, Kentucky Opera, Washington Concert Opera, Carnegie Hall New York, Orchestra Hall Chicago ORCHESTRA - Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, BYSO, Boston, Orchestre du Paris, Orchestre Radio France, Grant Park Symphony, Qatar Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Musiciens du Louvre.