Award-winning tenor Benjamin Ruiz is an international performer whom Bachtrack has praised as both “wonderfully intense” and “well-voiced.” Ruiz began his operatic journey as Young LBJ in the world premiere of Henry Mollicone’s Lady Bird: First Lady of the Land. The following year, he made his European debut at Mittelsächsisches Theater as Professor Würmchen in Der Vogelhändler under the baton of Alexander Livenson.

An alumnus of Texas State University and the Manhattan School of Music (MSM), Ruiz earned his Master of Music in Voice Performance as a recipient of the Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation Scholarship. While at MSM, he performed in several acclaimed productions under the batons of Maestros George Manahan and the Metropolitan Opera’s Pierre Vallet. Beyond the stage, he has performed in masterclasses for Metropolitan Opera Chorus Master Donald Palumbo and for Javier Camarena at the Donizetti Festival in New York City.

In the 2023–2024 season, Ruiz made his American debut as Beppe in Pagliacci with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, later returning to the company as Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette. He then joined the prestigious Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL), debuting as the Prune Man in La bohème, followed by an engagement with the world-renowned Apprentice Program for Singers at The Santa Fe Opera, where he covered the Duke in Rigoletto. After his time in Santa Fe, Ruiz returned to OTSL for their Hispanic Heritage Concert and appeared in recital with Nashville Opera’s Stephen Carey. He concluded his season to great acclaim covering Alfredo and debuting Gastone in La traviata with Opera San José, a performance run where Parterre Box touted him a “particular standout.” 

Ruiz has appeared as an emerging artist with Courtney’s Stars of Tomorrow and performed with the Grammy Award-winning St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. His upcoming season includes his debut as der Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer with Opera Orlando, a concert series with the Orlando Philharmonic, and Handel’s Messiah with The Villages Philharmonic. A frequent competition winner, Ruiz has found national success as a multi-year award winner in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, a semi-finalist in the George and Nora London Foundation Competition, an award winner in the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Competition, and a First Prize winner of the inaugural Duncan Williams Voice Competition hosted by Manhattan School of Music, New York City Opera, and the Sphinx Foundation.

*updated Summer 2026