Jacob Joseph Rivera is an emerging tenor recognized for his versatility across contemporary opera, standard repertoire, and musical theater.

In his 2025–2026 season, Rivera appeared in the world premiere of Noah Magnus’s Death of a Mouse with New Music Theater Project. He also performed Claudio in Shakespeare Opera Theatre's innovative fusion of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, continuing his growing reputation as an artist equally at home in new works and traditional repertoire.

 

During the 2025–2026 season, Rivera made his St. Petersburg Opera mainstage debut as Mr. Erlanson in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, following his work with the company as an Emerging Artist. Previously, he covered Oronte in Handel’s Alcina with St. Petersburg Opera. In the 2024–2025 season, Rivera continued his commitment to both bel canto and contemporary repertoire. As an Apprentice Mainstage Artist with Opera Southwest, he performed Don Eusebio in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro. He also appeared as Lázaro in George Martin’s Before Night Falls, an opera inspired by the life and memoir of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas.

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Rivera’s additional operatic repertoire includes Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, El Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen, the title role in Mozart’s Lucio Silla, Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and Andrès in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann. His performances have taken him to companies and festivals including Miami Music Festival, Chicago Summer Opera, Russian Opera Workshop, Princeton Music Festival, Opera North, and Opera Southwest.

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Equally committed to concert and contemporary music, Rivera has performed in Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Purchase Opera Symphony and appeared in the premiere of Alejandro Zuleta’s El Oratorio Panhispánico. He was also a three-season participant in the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s prestigious Prelude to Performance program, appearing in productions of Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, Puccini’s La bohème, and Bizet’s Carmen.

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Rivera’s honors include an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (North Dakota–Manitoba District), Third Prize in the New York LYRA International Art Song Competition, recognition as a Semifinalist in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, and selection as a Finalist for the 2026 Grant Park Music Festival Fellowship Program.

 

Rivera holds a Master of Music from the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, where he received both an assistantship and scholarship. His artistic work reflects a deep commitment to dramatic storytelling, stylistic versatility, and the continued exploration of both established and contemporary operatic repertoire.