John Viscardi
Alumni Advisor
Sessions I & II
John Viscardi, alumnus of CLA Italy 2009 and CLA France 2014, lives in Philadelphia with his wife Molly and two children, Jack and Noa. Throughout his operatic career, Mr. Viscardi has performed with Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, New York City Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Opera Carolina. After a few years performing the tenor repertoire, Mr. Viscardi realized that his voice possessed a lower range, and he moved into the baritone repertoire, where his credits include the title roles in David DiChiera’s Cyrano at Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Carolina, Erich in Dear Erich at the New York City Opera, and a forthcoming Pelléas in Pelléas and Mélisande at Opera Southwest. In addition, he has sung Valentin in Faust at Michigan Opera Theatre, and Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Toledo Opera. It was his work as a high baritone that enabled him to free the upper part of his voice, and he is now a Lyric Tenor, studying a variety of roles, among them Don José in Carmen and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.
Mr. Viscardi is featured in collaboration with Glenn Morton on Brilliant Classics’ complete recording of the works of F.P. Tosti – available on Spotify and Apple Music. Mr. Viscardi’s performances with orchestra and in recital includes Carmina Burana with Opera Philadelphia, the Duruflé and Fauré Requiems, and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs (the latter three in Carnegie Hall), Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, and a recital of Tosti songs in Tokyo. Mr. Viscardi has appeared in both recital and concert at venues that include Carnegie Hall (New York), Geffen Hall (New York), Tokyo Opera City (Tokyo), Verizon Hall (Philadelphia) and Avery Fisher Hall (New York). Winner of both the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and Concorso Internazionale F.P. Tosti, Mr. Viscardi is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts and New York University.
A multi-faceted artist, Mr. Viscardi is incredibly experienced in running and growing a variety of organizations. He is the co-founder of ArtSmart, a national arts mentoring organization that empowers students in underserved communities to find their path through mentorship with paid professional artists. Additionally Mr. Viscardi is the creator of Heartbridge, an app that explores the dimensions of sight, sound, and touch, and how they coalesce within Live Streamed performances. The app uses the vibrating motor in a cellphone to make it vibrate in time with the artists’ heartbeat so that the audience can feel what the artist is experiencing. Mr. Viscardi also serves as a board member of The Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (PVLA).