A Chicago native, baritone Samuel James Dewese is forging a unique path as an evocative artist worldwide. Traditional operatic highlights include Sam/Trouble in Tahiti, Father/Hansel and Gretel,  Astrophel/The Arcadians, and Marcello/La Bohème. In concert, Samuel has been a soloist alongside Portsmouth Festival Orchestra at Portsmouth Cathedral (UK), Highgate Choral Society, and the Illinois Wind Symphony. Passionate about new works, Samuel has premiered operas including The Perfect Opera (Edinburgh Fringe), Would You Eat Me? (Thompson Street Opera Company), and the title characters in John Henry (Tête à Tête, London) and La Jetée (Chicago Fringe Opera). Samuel is a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London and the Florentine Opera apprentice program, and has been honored in competition by James Toland Vocal Arts, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Hariclea Darclée Competition, and the Luminarts Foundation.