Enrico Lagasca | Photo: Sequoyah Wildwyn-Dechter

Enrico Lagasca

Filipino-American bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca is an in-demand vocalist– having performed more than a hundred oratorios, new-music works, opera roles, song cycles, and collections. His “smooth, dark bass voice” can be heard on five Grammy Award-nominated recordings. During the 2024-2025 season, he makes debuts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, he debuted at BachFest in Leipzig with Bach Collegium San Diego and with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus with the San Francisco Symphony.  Other notable recent engagements include being the resident soloist for the Carmel Bach Festival in 2023, debut performances with Tafelmusik in Toronto, Canada, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Experiential Orchestra, and regularly appearing with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra. 
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Amid the wide-ranging demands of his repertoire, critics note Enrico’s larger-than-life presence. “Bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca summoned nearly as much volume as everyone else onstage put together.” Storytelling is at the center of his artistry, whether opera or oratorio. He has been described as having “an oratorio voice that strikes fear of God in the hearts of the audience.” His performance of St. Matthew’s Passion at Saint Thomas’s Church was described as “an outpouring of devotion and grief as elegant as it was moving.” 

Soloist highlights of recent seasons include Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with Voices of Ascension in New York, Handel's Messiah at Ann Arbor's University Musical Society and at Carnegie Hall with Musica Sacra, Bach's Christmas Oratorio at Washington Bach Consort, and Mendelssohn's Walpurgisnacht with the St. Louis Symphony. Enrico has collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Pablo Heras-Casado, Nicholas McGegan, Jane Glover, John Butt, John Nelson, Matthew Halls and Carl St. Clair.

Enrico’s passion extends beyond performing. He is dedicated to advocacy for the Queer community and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). As a member of the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, a musical group committed to diversity and social justice, he participates in creative outreach programming for various communities with limited access to the arts. His performances of Craig Johnson's Considering Matthew Shepard reflect Enrico’s dedication to works that address the LGBTQ+ community. 

As much as the great sacred works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart remain in his bones, Enrico enjoys performing music by living composers and has premiered works by Julia Wolfe, Jonathan Dove, David Lang, Jake Runestad, Alex Berko, Caroline Shaw, and Reena Esmail. He has sung Sarah Kirkland Snider's Mass for the Endangered, Jake Heggie's The Moon is a Mirror, Nico Muhly's The Last Letter, and Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles. Enrico also participated in the U.S. premiere of the Jonathan Dove opera The Monster in the Maze with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. He was described as a “visceral force with vivid phrasing.”

Enrico finds immense joy in chamber-group singing, participating in concert ensemble repertoire, frequently collaborating with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Conspirare, Skylark, Bach Collegium San Diego, Seraphic Fire, Clarion Choir, TENET Vocal Artists, to name a few. A highlight of recent seasons includes Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light (afterlight) directed by Peter Sellers at the Park Avenue Armory with Trinity Wall Street. He is also proud of his involvement with the Grammy-award-winning ensemble The Crossing in the New York Philharmonic’s premiere of Julia Wolfe’s multi-media unEarth. 

Earlier on in his career, Enrico had the joy of interpreting classic operatic repertoire, including Collatinus in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia and Lorenzo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi. His willingness to take risks onstage caught the attention of forward-looking directors such as Thaddeus Strassberger, RB Schlather, and Kevin Newbury.

Enrico has made waves in the art song world as a frequent interpreter of works by Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms. He was a finalist in 2013 in the Das Lied International Song Competition in Berlin and a finalist in the 24th International Vocal Arts Competition Le Centre Lyrique in Clermont-Ferrand, France. In 2019, he participated in Renee Fleming's inaugural Song Studio at Carnegie Hall. His song repertoire includes Schubert’s Winterreise, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. 

Enrico’s vocal talent was recognized early on growing up in the Philippines. He found love in singing with the choir and, from ages 16 to 20, toured with the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers. Because of this group, he was able to travel the world and became captivated with music, leading him to his current path. 

An educator himself, Enrico maintains a small private vocal studio and conducts visiting artist residencies at schools such as Southern Virginia University, Amherst College, and Colgate University. He trained at the University of the Philippines and Mannes College of Music and lives in New York City with his husband.

www.enricolagasca.com