Carlos Enrique Santelli

A 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner, tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli has performed with renowned companies including Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Los Angeles Opera. His repertoire features roles such as Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Tonio (La fille du régiment), and Valcour in the rarely performed L’Amant Anonyme.

Dr. Santelli trained as a Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist with LA Opera and apprenticed with both The Santa Fe Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. On the concert stage, he has appeared in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, and Verdi’s Requiem, performing with ensembles such as the Princeton Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Sacramento Choral Society, and Erie Philharmonic.

Some of his notable honors include first place in the 2018 Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, competing as a quarterfinalist in the 2019 Operalia competition, and receiving a Sullivan Foundation Career Development Grant. From 2023 to 2025, Dr. Santelli served as assistant professor of voice at the University of Memphis, leading the voice pedagogy curriculum and vocology certificate program.

Dr. Santelli’s scholarly work has included publications in the Journal of Singing, such as “Clinical Reasoning in Voice Pedagogy: A Systematic Foundation for Developing Intuition in Novice Voice Teachers” and the forthcoming “What Is Voice?” He holds a D.M.A. from Louisiana State University with a minor in nocal pedagogy, an M.M. from the University of Michigan, and a B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory.

A passionate teacher dedicated to nurturing the next generation of singers, Dr. Santelli comes from a family of educators and embraces teaching as both a profession and a lifelong calling.