The tenor René Barbera studied at the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. He won First Prize at Operalia in 2011 in the opera and zarzuela categories, and the audience prize. In 2015 he made his North American debut at the San Diego Opera.

Guest engagements followed, including with the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Berlioz’ Te Deum, as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Piedmont Opera, as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the San Francisco Opera, as the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier at the Chicago Lyric Opera, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Narciso in Il turco in Italia at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. In 2016 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri. In the 2017–18 season he made his debut at Stuttgart Opera as Lord Arturo in I puritani.