Dr. Mark Covey

Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, bass Mark Covey has been described as “a real virtuoso” (Opera Today). He has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, France, and Italy. He made his professional debut in 2014 with Opera Las Vegas as Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Recently, he appeared as Simone in Festival Napa Valley’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, led by legendary conductor, Kent Nagano. Other notable roles include Escamillo (Carmen), Rambaldo (La Rondine), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), and Eisenstein in (Die Fledermaus) among others. In 2018, he performed the role of Giuseppe in Opera San Antonio’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata. Mark has been a finalist in many national competitions including the Shreveport Opera Mary Jacobs Singer of the Year Competition, the Frances Walton Competition in Seattle, WA, and the Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota Competition. In the fall of 2021, he was a Young Artist with the Opera Company of Middlebury, covering the role of Thibaut and performing the role of Boyn in Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans. In the Summer of 2022, he returned to Festival Napa Valley as a Menetti Shrem Young Artist where he covered the role of Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

Mark is also an accomplished classical guitarist, having studied in the prestigious studio of renowned American classical guitar icon, Christopher Parkening. He has performed the guitar parts of Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Las Vegas, Opera San Antonio, and the Mediterranean Opera Festival in Sicily. In 2017, he released his solo album, Glory of Guitar.

Mark was awarded the Graduate Opportunity Fellowship from the University of California, Santa Barbara to publish his DMA document, A Historical and Performance Companion to the Art Song of the 16th Century Spanish Vihuelistas with Texts and Translations. For his research, he uncovered long forgotten art songs from original manuscripts and treatises written by guitar composers of the Spanish renaissance. Dr. Covey continues to research and arrange music for voice and classical guitar.

Mark earned his Bachelor of Music degree with a dual-emphasis in voice and classical guitar from Pepperdine University. He received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.