Faculty Profile for Ronald C Ulen

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Ronald Ulen - Baritone
Ronald Ulen is an American baritone of Norwegian heritage. He was born in Virginia and grew up primarily in Florida and Minnesota. After studies in Business Administration and Finance he turned his attention to Music, earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Voice and Music Education from Minnesota State University. He then entered the graduate program at Florida State University where he earned two Masters Degrees, in Voice and in Opera Production and Management. Postgraduate studies led him to Vienna, Austria and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Even before finishing his studies he made his professional stage debut as Guglielmo in Mozarts "Cosi fan tutte" with the National Opera Company. Thus began a long and successful relationship in which he sang the leading baritone roles in hundreds of performances. This, in turn, led to guest appearances throughout United States, for example Malatesta in "Don Pasquale", Figaro in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia", Count Eberbach in "Der Wildschütz", Mr. Ford in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and Marcello in "La Boheme". His busy schedule gave him the opportunity to perform in 37 states.

Ronald Ulen made his European debut in "Il Trovatore" at the renowned Opera House in Zürich, Switzerland. Since then, he has concentrated his career for the most part in Europe. His first engagement as a resident artist was in Coburg, Germany, where he sang the title roles in Verdi´s "Falstaff", Tschaikowky´s "Eugen Onegin", Bartok´s "Bluebeard’s Castle", Zar Peter I. in Lortzing´s "Zar und Zimmermann" as well as Sharpless in Puccini´s "Madame Butterfly" and Tarquinius in Britten´s "The Rape of Lucretia".

During the course of his career he was engaged as the resident leading baritone at the Staatstheater in Schwerin, the Staatstheater in Mainz and the Opera House of Augsburg. His roles included Germont in Verdi´s "La Traviata", Belcore in "L´Elisir d´Amore", Conte Almaviva in "Le Nozze di Figaro", Valentin in "Faust" und Conte di Luna in "Il Trovatore".





Ronald Ulen Baritone Biography 2



Guest appearances in opera und concert have taken Ronald Ulen to the stages and concert halls of New York, Vienna, Rome, Miami, Washington, D.C., Hamburg, Chicago, Munich, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and numerous others as soloist in Brahms "Requiem", in Orffs "Carmina Burana", Händels "Messiah", Mendelssohns "Elijah" and Beethovens 9th Symphony, to name just a few.

Mr. Ulen appeared in new productions of "La Boheme" as Marcello, in Paisiello’s "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" as Figaro, Ottokar in "Der Freischütz" and Renato in "Un Ballo in Maschera". In addition he sang the Four Villains in "The Tales of Hoffmann" as well as Miller in "Luisa Miller".

He has enjoyed a great success as Nabucco in Verdi’s opera of the same name in numerous venues. Additional productions have included Ariadne auf Naxos, La Finta Giardinieri, Aida, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Forza del Destino. A versatile performer who feels equally at home on the opera, concert, or recital stage, Mr. Ulen has sung over 120 roles in more than 2100 performances.

Despite his busy performing schedule, he has always tried to find time for teaching, in an attempt to pass on some of the information which he has gathered in his career. His students are represented on the rosters of numerous European and American opera houses. Further, he has conducted master classes at various Universities and Conservatories in Europe and the U.S., as well as having been invited to adjudicate vocal competitions throughout the U.S., including NATSAA and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Mr. Ulen is an Associate Professor and Artist Teacher of Voice at Texas State University School of Music and continues to maintain an active schedule in opera, concert and recital. Upcoming performances in the U.S. will take him to Houston, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Austin, Palm Springs and New Orleans. His international obligations will take him to Germany, Switzerland, England and Italy.

Research Interests

After having spent many years performing the operatic literature for the baritone voice, recitals of art songs have become very important to me.