Bridging the boundary between opera and musical theatre, Raffi Wright is a singer, actor, pianist, composer, arranger, and private teacher from Buffalo, New York. 

 

Raffi received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. During his four years at the School, he achieved degrees in Vocal Performance, Musical Arts (honors degree), Arts Administration (Institute for Music Leadership), Secondary Piano, with concentration in English Literature. He is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity degree in Worship Leadership at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary online. 

 

Raffi has appeared in the Buffalo and Rochester Theatre Scene for over a decade. Some recent musical theatre credits include Young Frankenstein (Igor), Phantom of the Opera (Phantom), Cabaret (Emcee), and Sweeney Todd (Ensemble). Some theatrical credits include And Then There Were None (Anthony Marston), The Foreigner (Charlie Baker), The Odd Couple (Felix Ungar), and Death of Salesman (Willy Loman). Recent operatic credits include Eastman Opera Theatre’s Our Voices in which he collaborated with composers Lori Laitman and Ben Moore, Elizabeth Cree (Witness), Die Zauberflöte (Papageno), and Into the Woods (Baker).

​

During his sophomore year in high school, Raffi won Western New York’s Kenny Award for Most Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Igor in Young Frankenstein in 2016. He was also awarded a full fellowship to perform in Berlin’s 2020 OpernFest as Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) and Pinello (Gianni Schicchi).

 

Raffi is a lover of language. He has studied Latin, Italian, German, and French. He continues to study Greek and Hebrew. He gladly offers coachings in all of these languages.

 

In 2022, Raffi premiered his multi-media composition She Taught Me: Her Childhood without Spring, a song cycle for voice and piano filled with the words of his great-grandmother recalling her traumatic past of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. A recording of the premiere is available to watch here. Please note the material is sensitive.

​​ 

As a teaching artist for both What is Opera, Anyway? and Representation Matters, Raffi has dedicated himself to educating the younger generation about various avenues of art through a diverse lens. To further invest in community, he has been an active member of Shea's Performing Arts Center educational programs. He loves to offer private lessons to children and adults from all areas of WNY. He loves performing with the non-profit Vision Possible Charities which brings together artists from all over the world to raise money for various humanitarian causes.

 

When not performing, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, usually over a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee.