Biography
“Thomas Cilluffo made our blood run cold with his delivery of the nasty “Aria of the Worm” from Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. He has a full and powerful voice, and an interesting and unusual tonal quality, which he employed to create a character. We shivered with his biting enunciation of final consonants.” –Voce di Meche
In the 2023/24 season, Mr. Cilluffo makes his debut with the Royal Danish Theater in Copenhagen in Barrie Kosky’s production of Händel’s Saul singing the roles of Abner, High Priest, Amalekite, and Doeg. He will also perform the role of Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with the Lakes Area Music Festival and Spoletta in The Dallas Opera’s production of Tosca.
The 2022/23 season marked Mr. Cilluffo’s European debut at both Teatro Regio Torino and Deutsche Oper Berlin. His roles include Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), Pang cover (Turandot), Abdallo (Nabucco), Remendado (Carmen), Borsa (Rigoletto), Arturo (Lucia), Jaquino (Fidelio), and Messagero (Aida). He also made a return to the Santa Fe Opera as Bardolfo in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Falstaff, after a triumphant run as Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro the previous summer.
Read moreReviews
“Thomas Rafeld Cilluffo made a particularly strong impression, revealing a bright, warm, agile tenor and abundant stylistic flourish in the “Venti scudi “duet from L’Elisir d’Amore. […]Cillufo sounded like he could move confidently into the Flórez repertoire before too long.”
“…And tenor Thomas Ciluffo was wonderful as Belfiore, […] quick and pointed on his feet, vocally flexible, strong, pleasant, and accurate.”
“Thomas Cilluffo made our blood run cold with his delivery of the nasty “Aria of the Worm” from Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. He has a full and powerful voice and an interesting and unusual tonal quality which he employed to create a character. We shivered with his biting enunciation of final consonants.”
