Ralph Cato

Baritone Ralph Cato has performed around the world, singing masterworks from opera, oratorio, and the musical stage to critical acclaim.

His repertoire spans a wide range of lyric and dramatic baritone roles, among which include, Amonasro, in Aida, Scarpia in Tosca, Tonio in I Pagliacci, and Figaro in The Barber of Seville. In his repertoire of oratorio works, one finds Karl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Pilate in the Passion According to St. John, of J.S. Bach as well as works by Bruckner, Fauré, Handel, Mozart, Vaughan Williams, and Michael Tippett.

Cato has been featured with the Philharmonic in Cologne, Germany (Kölner Philharmonie), and the Estonia National Symphony. In the US, with the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Pacific Symphony and Chorale, the Long Beach Symphony, the Stockton Symphony, the San Bernardino Symphony, the Los Angeles Pops Orchestra, the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, the Angeles Chorale and the United States Marine Band.
He has also been featured in the very popular Irish dance show, Riverdance, performing in venues throughout Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea and the United States.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Cato moved to southern California after finishing high school to attend Northridge State. He went on to the University of Southern California and earned a Master of Music degree, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

When not engaged in performing activities, Cato teaches vocal arts and Italian, German and French diction for singers at the University of California Riverside.