Mexican-American baritone Schyler Vargas is establishing himself as a versatile young talent, bringing interdisciplinary performances to the operatic, theatrical, and concert stage. Noted as a “distinguished” (Washington Classical Review) and “powerful baritone,” (Washington Post) his work in the dramatic song cycle UNKNOWN by Shawn Okpebholo and commissioned by UrbanArias has been featured on PBS News Hour and NPR, among other publications. 

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In the 2025 season, Schyler has enjoyed a wide variety of projects at the intersection of opera and musical theatre. He has been seen as Guido in Nine with Short North Stage in Columbus, Lightoller in Titanic with the Ogunquit Playhouse, a Swing (Barrett, Charles, Fleet, Farrell) in Titanic with Marriott Theatre in the round, and as a finalist in both the Lotte Lenya Competition and American Traditions Competition. Over the summer, he debuted with Central City Opera as Sir Harry (Once Upon a Mattress) and covering Lieutenant Roberto Gonzales in The Knock, the Ensemble in Carmina Burana with Grant Park Music Festival, and in recital with Art Song Chicago. He looks forward to several exciting projects in 2026, including performances as Slim in Of Mice and Men at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and originating a lead role to be announced in January.

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Schyler's recent highlights include his return to Carnegie Hall performing Connie/Ragged Man in The Grapes of Wrath alongside Nathan Gunn and Margaret Latimore with MasterVoices, Mercurio (La Calisto) and Inspector Kildare (Elizabeth Cree) with The Glimmerglass Festival, El payador (María de Buenos Aires) with Opera Montana, Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) with Pacific Opera Project, Maximilian (Candide) with Wichita Grand Opera. Other past highlights include his Carnegie Hall debut as Strephon in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe with MasterVoices conducted and directed by Ted Sperling and performing alongside Christine Ebersole, Santino Fontana, Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte among mainstage roles at The Atlanta Opera, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Glimmerglass Festival, Dayton Opera, and the Château de Versailles Spectacles in France.

 

 An award winning performer, Schyler has seen success in competitions with notable awards including: 1st place in Tri-Cities Opera’s Vocal Competition, two time winner of the Rocky Mountain District in the Laffont Competition with the Metropolitan Opera, 2nd place and Audience Favorite in the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, 2nd place at the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Aria Competition, and two time District Winner in the Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Voice Competition. 

 

On the concert stage, Schyler has performed as the baritone soloist for Vaughn William’s Five Mystical Songs, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle, Schubert’s Mass in Ab, and Mark Hayes’ Requiem. 

 

Prioritizing new music in his career, Schyler has proudly worked on various commissions for new operas and song cycles with the Houston Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Montana, The Glimmerglass Festival, Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Schyler received his Master of Music degree from the renowned University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and his Bachelor of Music with a minor in Business Administration from Colorado State University.