Manny Perez
Director of Vocal Studies
An accomplished and sought-after voice teacher and artistic consultant, Manny Perez has discovered, taught and mentored some of the top vocal talents emerging today, maintaining vocal studios in Miami and New York City. His students pursue and have achieved national and international careers and have graced many of the world’s greatest stages including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera, as well the Teatro Solis in Uruguay, La Scala, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, The Royal Opera House, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Ópera de Oviedo, and Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Over the last few years, Manny’s students have been finalists and award winners in The Cardiff Singer of the World, Operalia, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Paris Opera Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, the George London Competition, the Jensen Competition, the Zachary’s the Young Concert Artists, the Naumburg foundation, The Mirjam Helin, the Montserrat Caballe concurso, the Veronica Villaroel, the Francisco Viñas in Barcelona and the YoungArts National classical voice competition.
Lauded as a superlative vocal pedagogue, Manny Perez is the Director of Vocal Studies for the Miami Music Festival now in its 10th season and has served as guest faculty for Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Naples Academy and The Sherrill Milnes Voice Experience Program. With the advent of teaching on virtual platforms, Perez now teaches nationally and internationally in countries like Paris, Spain, Rome, Mexico, Verona, Leipzig, and Slovakia to name a few. In Miami, singers from the Manny Perez Vocal Studio have been featured in The Adrienne Arsht Center's production of Zarzuela Tonight!, Miami Symphony Orchestra’s (MiSO) “A Night at the Opera,” The Symphony of the Americas’ concert of Spanish and Cuban Zarzuela, The Doral Cultural Affairs Council Opera Evenings, The St. Hugh-Steinway Concert Series, Sunday Afternoons of Music, The Temple Beth Am Spring Opera Series, and Orchestra Miami’s Viva Verdi concert. Of the Miami Symphony Orchestra’s “A Night at the Opera” collaboration, South Florida Classical Review remarked, “the singers in Manny Perez’s studio demonstrate polished maturity. Any one of them could go directly to a career with great success, and most have already made their professional debuts… Perez… has a knack for spotting talent. His coaching style was evident in every performance, in clear diction, seamless range, exceptional projection, and emotional characterizations.”
Perez is also a prominent vocal instructor in the cantorial community and has been invited to teach masterclasses at both the American Conference of Cantors and the Cantors Assembly Convention.
Manny Perez continues to live and teach in his hometown of Miami. A graduate of Coral Gables Senior High School, Perez’s early years saw him as an active and varied student musician, playing tuba and conducting in the marching band, singing in the chorus, and performing in musicals. Perez began his studies at Lamar University on a tuba scholarship, later completing his degree in Music Education and vocal performance from the University of Miami, on a full scholarship with an Arturo Di Filippi award as a student of voice. With dreams of becoming an opera singer, he joined the opera chorus of the Greater Miami Opera (now Florida Grand Opera) as a student in 1981, where he performed alongside idols including Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, later becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Grand Opera for over 10 years.
Perez enjoys a life imbued with music, from the Latin rhythms of his native Cuba to the world of opera and classical music. Immigrating to the United States at the age 5, Manny discovered a passion for music that would transcend borders and language, as well as provide an outlet and a respite that would become his lifelong career.
Manny affirms his greatest accomplishment, however, is his beautiful daughter Miranda.