Benjamin R. Sokol

Originally from Westbury, New York, Sokol is a first-year Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone. This season at Lyric he will appear in Salome and El último sueño de Frida y Diego. He recently received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at the Manhattan School of Music. Sokol was a winner of the 2025 Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition, semi-finalist in the 2025 George and Nora London Foundation Competition and 2023 Premiere Opera Foundation Competition, finalist in the 2022 Opera Index Competition, and winner of the 2021 Milnes Opera Idol Competition. He has previously participated in the artist-development programs at San Francisco’s Merola Opera (Commendatore/Don Giovanni), Chautauqua Opera Company and Conservatory, and the Taos Opera Institute. He has also been with the Milnes VOICE Programs for several years, participating in the Florida VOICE Project and Milnes VOICE Studio and performing at the Savannah VOICE Festival. Other roles in his repertoire include Nick Bottom/A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Betto Di Segna/Gianni Schicchi, Badger/The Cunning Little Vixen, Sarastro and Sprecher/Die Zauberflöte, Wagner/Faust, and Don Magnifico/La cenerentola.

Benjamin R. Sokol is sponsored by David & Janet Fox and Penelope R. Steiner.

^{Last updated: September 3, 2025}