John Mburu is a Kenyan-American Bass born in Warwick, Rhode Island. He
was been praised for his, “Notable” and “Steadfast” portrayal of the
Duke of Verona from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in the 2023
Glimmerglass Festival. Mburu has performed a variety of genres around
the U.S. including opera, oratorio, musical theatre, cantata, concert
works, and jazz. Mburu holds a Masters degree from the Cincinnati
Conservatory of Music where studied under Kenneth Shaw and received a
bachelor from Lee University where he studied voice under Tony Deaton.
Roles that Mburu has enjoyed portraying are Bartolo in Le Nozze di
Figaro, Pope Urban VIII in Galileo Galilei, Pallante in Agrippina,
Friar Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, Colline in La Bohéme, Parson in
The Cunning Little Vixen, and Collations in The Rape of Lucretia.
Mburu will be joining Opera Theatre of St.Louis as a Gerdine Young
Artist where he will sing the role of Curio in Handel’s Julius Ceasar.
Mburu joins Minnesota Opera as a 2024-2025 Resident Artist where he
will sing Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, Fiorello in Barber of Seville,
and Daddy in Snowy Days. His portrayal of Sciarrone in Tosca will be
his debut with Dayton Opera.
