American baritone Cole Bellamy, originally from Olathe, Kansas, has been making an impression on opera stages around the United States. Bellamy is a second-year Resident Artist at Detroit Opera. In his first season as a Resident Artist, he sang Baron Douphol in La traviata under the baton of Roberto Kalb and covered the roles of Germont (La traviata), Argante (Rinaldo), and Guglielmo (Così fan tutte).

In May 2025, Cole made his Opera Theatre of Saint Louis debut as a Gerdine Young Artist, covering the role of Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, led by Leonard Slatkin. Cole was also a recipient of the Richard Gaddes Career Award. In 2024, Cole made his Santa Fe Opera debut as an Apprentice Singer in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’s The Righteous, singing the role of Deacon 1. In the 2023–24 season, Cole was a studio artist at Opera Neo in San Diego, where he was featured in the annual Aria Gala at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center and was described by the San Diego Story as a “rich baritone” with “commanding presence and fearless declamation.” He was a first-place winner in Mobile Opera’s 2024 Madame Role Palmai-Tenser Scholarship competition. Coles’s solo professional debut was with Wichita Grand Opera in the role of Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia; he made his professional concert debut with Tallahassee Community Chorus as the baritone soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Cole received his master of music degree in vocal performance from Florida State University, where he participated in Florida State Opera productions that included Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire (Stanley Kowalski) and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro). He earned his undergraduate degree at Wichita State University, where he performed in productions including Così fan tutte (Guglielmo) and Street Scene (Frank), and was baritone soloist in the university choir’s performances of the Brahms Requiem and Orff’s Carmina Burana.