Augustine Mercante

Praised by Gramophone for his “lyrical intensity and the way he polishes each word with lapidarian ecstasy”, Augustine Mercante enjoys an active career singing repertoire from the Baroque to the newly-created, performing regularly with organizations throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania including Opera Philadelphia, Tempesta di Mare, Brandywine Baroque, Reading Choral Society, the Serafin Ensemble, Newark Symphony Orchestra, Delaware Choral Arts, and Delaware Choral Society. He has appeared at festivals both locally and abroad including the Salzburg Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, La folle journée, Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Serafin Summer Music Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Wilmington Fringe Festival, and the International Gluck Festival in Nürnberg, and has toured internationally and in the US with the American Spiritual Ensemble.

Gus completed his Artist Diploma in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar performing at the Prinzregententheater in Munich and with Nürnberg Opera. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas and the University of Delaware, where he was honored to be the inaugural recipient of the Robert King Memorial Scholarship.  He has twice been awarded fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was a winner of the Austrian American Foundation’s competition which earned him a scholarship to The Mozarteum in Salzburg. Gus can be heard on clarinetist Christopher Nichols’ recording Almost All-American on the Albany label and is a featured soloist on cellist Ovidiu Marinescu’s recording Suspended Between the Worlds which will be released in 2025.  He has performed live on Philadelphia’s WRTI and his performance of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin from the 2013 Tanglewood Festival, for which The New York Times called him a “glowing countertenor”, was heard several times on New York Public Radio, WQXR.

Gus and his husband, Justin, live in Wilmington, Delaware where Gus teaches at The Music School of Delaware, maintains a private teaching studio, and is the Founder and Executive Director of LifeSongs, a non-profit that creates performing opportunities for young artists while raising money for individuals in need and the organizations that serve them. Learn more at www.augustinemercante.com.