Baritone Justin Burgess, a native of South Lyon, Michigan, returns to the Cafritz Young Artists of Washington National Opera for the 2023-24 season, in which he will perform Mercutio in the YA performance of Romeo and Juliet, the Donkey in The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me, and the Gangster/Old Prisoner in Songbird. Last season, he made his house debut as Schaunard in the Young Artist performances of La bohème. In the summer of 2022, he joined the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist where he will cover Morales in Carmen and Der Steuermann in Tristan und Isolde. In 2021, he returned to Wolf Trap Opera to cover Toby in Sweeney Todd and Baron Pictordu in Viardot’s Cendrillon. Mr. Burgess performed Walter/Michael in Cincinnati Opera’s workshop of Kevin Puts’s The Hours, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera through their Opera Fusion: New Works initiative. As a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera in 2019 and 2020, he performed as Zerbin in L’ile de Merlin and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well as filmed scenes as Billy in Billy Budd, Schaunard in La bohéme, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Burgess was a regional finalist and two-time recipient of an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In 2022, Mr. Burgess received his Artist Diploma in Opera Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he also received his master’s degree. He received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. While there, he performed the roles of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Ormonte in Partenope, and Mercurio in La Calisto.