"Music is the universal language of mankind."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American poet



The American baritone Ronald Ulen has enjoyed a rewarding and successful career, appearing with opera companies around the world in a wide variety of roles.

He made his professional debut as Guglielmo in Mozarts "Cosi fan tutte" with the National Opera Company. This led to appearances throughout United States, for example as Malatesta in "Don Pasquale", Figaro in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia", Count Eberbach in "Der Wildschütz", Mr. Ford in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and Marcello in "La Boheme".

Ronald Ulen made his European debut in "Il Trovatore" at the renowned Opera House in Zürich, Switzerland. As a resident leading artist in Coburg, Germany, he sang the title roles in  Verdi´s "Falstaff", Tschaikowky´s "Eugen Onegin", Bartok´s "Bluebeards Castle", Zar Peter I. in Lortzing´s "Zar und Zimmermann" as well as Sharpless in Puccini´s "Madame Butterfly" and Tarquinius in Britten´s "The Rape of Lucretia".

He was also engaged as the resident leading baritone at the Staatstheater in Schwerin, the Staatstheater in Mainz and the Opera House of Augsburg. His roles included Germont in Verdi´s "La Traviata", Belcore in "L´Elisir d´Amore", Conte Almaviva in "Le Nozze di Figaro", Valentin in "Faust" and Conte di Luna in "Il Trovatore", Renato in "Un Ballo in Maschera", the Four Villains in "The Tales of Hoffmann" as well as Miller in "Luisa Miller". 

An active and versatile performer who feels equally at home on the opera, concert, or recital stage, Mr. Ulen has performed over 90 roles in nearly 2000 performances. His career has taken him to opera stages and concert halls around the world including those of Vienna, Rome, London, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, New York, Munich, Paris, Chicago and Berlin.

He has enjoyed great success as Nabucco in Verdi's opera of the same name in numerous venues. Additional productions have included Ariadne auf Naxos, La Finta Giardinieri, Aida, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tannhäuser, Der Fliegende Holländer and La Forza del Destino.

While the emphasis has always been on his singing career Mr. Ulen has also enjoyed success as a stage director. Before joining the faculty at Texas State University in his current position as Professor of Voice, he was the Director of Opera at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, taking over a small opera workshop and developing it into a national award-winning opera theater program.

In addition to his teaching, Mr. Ulen continues to maintain an active performing schedule. He has conducted master classes at various Universities and Conservatories in Europe and the United States as well as being in demand as an adjudicator and jury member of various voice competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Mr. Ulen's current and former students are represented on the rosters of numerous European and American opera houses.

He earned his Bachelors Degree in Music Education
from Minnesota State University Mankato followed by two Masters Degrees from Florida State University, in Vocal Performance and Opera Production. Further studies led him to Vienna, Austria and The Metropolitan Opera in New York.