Kyle Marrero

Director, School of Fine and Performing Arts

Chair, Department of Music

Dr. Kyle Marrero holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Vocal Performance from Bowling Green State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan, where he worked extensively with George Shirley and Martin Katz.  He currently is the Director of the School of Fine and Performing Arts and Chair of the Music Department at the University of West Florida and serves as the Artistic Director of Pensacola Opera.  Past affiliations have included eleven years as an Associate Professor on the voice faculty of Louisiana State University, Production Director for Nevada Opera and Artistic Director of Opera Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Always committed to the development of young singers, Dr. Marrero is currently on the staff of Des Moines Metro Opera’s summer festival where he serves as a stage director and coach for the apprentice artist program. 

As an academic administrator and Director of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at UWF, Dr. Marrero has garnered success in his abilities to navigate curriculum, personnel and development issues.  He successfully achieved NASM accreditation and approval for degree title changes from Bachelor of Arts to Bachelor of Music and is currently part of a committee to develop a B.A. program in Music Theatre delivered in partnership with the Music and Theatre departments.  He has guided assessment innovations in fine arts curriculum and has steered new standards in tenure and promotion guidelines appropriate to the music discipline.  Development and fundraising initiatives has included the purchase of 18 new Steinway pianos, making UWF an “All-Steinway” School.  During his short tenure at UWF, he has been involved in fundraising and grant endeavors totaling over 2 million in future scholarship and equipment purchases.  He currently serves as the coordinator of the Phillips Jazz Piano Competition and helped promote this event to national prominence.  New initiatives have included the addition of the UWF Summer High School Music Camp and the UWF Music Academy.  As a teacher, Dr. Marrero has been awarded the Tiger Athletic Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching at Louisiana State University and was twice nominated for a Distinguished Professor Award.  His vocal students have progressed their way to the important operatic stages throughout the United States, participated in prestigious programs, and won numerous competitions.  He is a active adjudicator for district and regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Rose Palmei Tensor Vocal Competition, Birmingham Opera Competition, Shreveport Opera Competition and National Association of Teachers of Singing.

As a singer, Dr. Marrero has performed around the world including Kuwait, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey, Chile, and Bolivia as an Artistic Ambassador presenting American Composer Recitals for the United States Artistic Ambassador Program.  Most recently, his recording of Hugo Wolf’s “Italienisches Liederbuch” with soprano Patricia O’Neill was released on the EGAMI label.  Operatic performances in the United States have included the San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Tour and Merola Opera Program, Chautauqua Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Des Moines Metro Opera, New Orleans Opera, Mobile Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Natchez Opera, Pensacola Opera, Toledo Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Opera Southwest, Jefferson Performing Arts Society, Tulane Summer Lyric, Four Corners Opera, and Papageno Opera.  In Europe he appeared with the Biel Staatsoper in Switzerland as Guglielmo in "Cosi fan tutte" and Figaro in "Le nozze di Figaro".  In addition, he is the recipient of the 1993 Ara Berberian Award, the 1989 Levy memorial Award (San Francisco Opera), and the Rackham Merit Fellowship at the University of Michigan.

In concert, recital, and oratorio, he has been a soloist with the Baton Rouge Symphony, Norfolk Symphony, Colorado Springs Symphony, Jefferson Performing Arts Society, Toledo Symphony, Lake Charles Symphony, Rapides Symphony, Toledo Choral Society, Macomb Symphony/Detroit, Rackham Symphony/Detroit, Albuquerque Chamber Orchestra, Corinth Symphony, Louisiana State University Symphony, Bowling State University Symphony, Middleton Civic Symphony, Loyola Universiy, Tufts University, the American Queen Mississippi Cruise Ship, and the San Jose Opera Guild.

As a Stage Director recent engagements include Nevada Opera’s Rigoletto, Tosca, La Traviata and Aida, Jacksonville Symphony’s Don Giovanni and Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mobile Opera’s Turandot and Madama Butterfly, Shreveport Opera’s La Boheme and Tosca, Pensacola Opera’s Tosca, The Merry Widow, Madama Butterfly, Carmen and La Traviata, and Opera Southwest’s The Magic Flute.   Upcoming engagements include stage direction for Pensacola Opera’s Aida.