Raffaele Cardone

Raffaele Cardone (born 1934) is an Italian-born operatic tenor and the founder and artistic director of Miami Lyric Opera.
Life and career.
Raffaele Cardone, husband, father, and grandfather currently lives in Florida with his wife, Theresa Cardone. 
Cardone began his musical and vocal studies in his native Bari while singing at local churches as a child soloist. As a teenager he took voice lessons with Giuseppe Racalbuto and soprano Delia Sanzio Montesanto until he was accepted as student by Carlo Tagliabue.
He made his operatic debut at the age of nineteen at the Teatro El Círculo in Rosario, Argentina, as the Duke of Mantua in "Rigoletto". He then sang in Uruguay before returning to Italy where he continued his studies with Tagliabue and appeared in several provincial opera houses. Cardone had an active international career in concert and on the opera stage throughout the 1960s, including his role debut as Arturo in "I puritani" at the Teatro Avenida in Buenos Aires in 1961. His career was interrupted by heart surgery in 1971. After his recovery, he sang for several seasons at the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
Following his retirement from the stage, Cardone devoted himself to teaching singing, first in Mexico and later in Florida, where he settled in 2002. In 2004 he founded the Miami Lyric Opera.