Erik DeMario, tenor, is a Kilmarnock native and second-year Master of Music student in Voice and Opera at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where he studies with renowned vocal pedagogues W. Stephen Smith and Norman Reinhardt. A 2022 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he performed the National Anthem at the university’s Fall 2022 Commencement Ceremony.

DeMario has appeared as a soloist with Virginia Opera, Commonwealth Concert Opera, Capital Opera (Richmond, VA), Classical Revolution (Richmond, VA), Northwestern Opera, and Miami Music Festival. His operatic roles include Camille de Rosillon (The Merry Widow), Mr. Upfold (Albert Herring), Marquis (The Ghosts of Versailles), Louis Viardot/Alfred de Musset (Notes on Viardot), Tamino (The Magic Flute), the title role in The Impresario, Bob (The Old Maid and the Thief), Lucano/Soldier 1 (The Coronation of Poppea), and Dan (From Up Here).

In the 2026 season, DeMario will join Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist, covering Roméo and Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette and performing the role of A Doctor in A Streetcar Named Desire. He will also make his debut with Music of the Baroque, singing the tenor solo in Bach’s Cantata BWV 198.

In concert, his highlights include the tenor solo in Handel’s Messiah, a performance in Sarah Brightman’s A Christmas Symphony tour, and the workshop production of Damien Geter’s Loving v. Virginia with Virginia Opera.

DeMario was awarded the Dunton Scholarship from the Rappahannock Music Study Club following a full recital that he performed in his hometown titled Seafaring: A Recital of Ocean Odes and Voyage Songs. He was recently named an Honorable Mention Awardee for the Luminarts Classical Voice Fellowship.

An avid sailor, DeMario began teaching sailing at age 11, his first job. A two-time Junior National Champion racer with Christchurch School, he now enjoys teaching sailing and singing shanties at the Chicago Yacht Club.