Dave Monaco, not yet thirty, has just won Third Prize at Operalia 2025 in Sofia as well as the Special Prize by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. He has already been hailed as a “tenor with exquisite natural vocality but impetuous elegance” and is regarded as one of the most talented singers of the Belcanto repertoire, particularly valued for his interpretations of Rossini’s work.

As a result, many of his 2025 engagements feature Rossini operas: Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Gran Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, the Opéra de Reims and the Opéra de Caen in a new production launched in 2024 by the Opéra National de Lorraine; Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Teatro La Fenice, Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur and the Teatro Comunale, Bologna; Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (role and theatre debut); Argirio in Tancredi which will inaugurate the Festival della Valle d’Itria (role and theatre debut); Don Narciso in Il turco in Italia at the Teatro Filarmonico, Verona (theatre debut). A highlight was his appearance at the Rossini Opera Festival where he sang in two Cantatas for solo voice, chorus and orchestra, presented for the first time in a new critical edition. He performed in a highly acclaimed production of the opera Il trionfo dell’onore, staged by La Fenice at the Teatro Malibran, Venice, for the three-hundredth anniversary of the death of Alessandro Scarlatti. He then sang in the Mozart Requiem at the Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence, marking the 45th anniversary of the Orchestra della Toscana and made his debut at the Teatro Regio, Parma, as Fenton in Falstaff at the Festival Verdi. In 2026 he will sing for the first time in Toronto as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and in Tokyo as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.

Particularly noteworthy recent engagements include performances with La Toscanini, Parma, under the baton of Enrico Onofri; his debut in Così fan tutte at the Opéra de Toulon; L’amico Fritz and Il turco in Italia at the Opera Carlo Felice; his debut in La Cenerentola, also in Genoa, and again Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Teatro Lirico, Cagliari, and the Teatro Verdi, Trieste. He performed in the world premiere of the “fantaopera” Raffa in the sky with music composed by Lamberto Curtoni, staged at the Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, in autumn 2023 and broadcast live by Rai 5. In 2024 he made several other role and theatre debuts in dramatic operas by Rossini: Ruodi in Guillaume Tell at Teatro alla Scala and Osiride in Mosé in Egitto in Modena, Piacenza and Reggio Emilia.

He has worked or is due to work with conductors Michele Mariotti, Riccardo Frizza, Enrico Onofri, Riccardo Minasi, Sesto Quatrini, Carlo Boccadoro, Diego Ceretta, Giuliano Carella, Riccardo Bisatti, Michele Spotti and Renato Palumbo. Stage directors with whom he has worked include Paolo Gavazzeni and Piero Maranghi, Jacopo Spirei, Stefano Vizioli, Chiara Muti, Ricci/Forte, Grischa Asagaroff, Denis Krief, Leo Muscato, Francesco Micheli, Andrea Bernard, Christophe Gayral and Rosetta Cucchi.

Dave Monaco initially studied singing with Giovanna Collica and Fulvio Massa, and continued his training with Leone Magiera and Salvatore Fisichella.

At the age of just twenty-two, he won the Ettore Campogalliani International Competition and the Mietta Sighele Prize at the XXV Edition of the Riccardo Zandonai International Competition in Riva del Garda. At the 2021 edition of the Portofino International Opera Singing Competition, he won three prizes: second prize, the audience award and the best Italian singer award.

He attended the Accademia Rossiniana directed by Ernesto Palacio focusing on the interpretation of Rossini’s works and graduated from the Young Artists Program at the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under the direction of Gianni Tangucci. Here he made his debut in roles such as Osburgo in La Straniera by Bellini, Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and the Song Vendor in Il Tabarro. He was also selected to represent the Accademia in St. Petersburg and at the Sale Apollinee at La Fenice. Following his graduation, he has continued to work in partnership with the Florence theatre, performing on several occasions in leading opera roles and as a soloist in chamber and symphonic concerts.