About
Bass Joshua Arky, described by Times Argus as having “a rich, expressive bass,” recently returned to San Diego Opera to perform Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other recent performances include several recitals with San Diego Opera, Marchese in La Traviata with FF Collective SD, and many varied appearances with LA CENA È PRONTA, a project Joshua co-founded that explores the ways music and food intersect.
Other career highlights include Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Opera San José; Sacristan in Tosca, Jake Wallace in La fanciulla del West, Frank Maurrant (cover) in Street Scene and Leporello (cover) in Don Giovanni with Virginia Opera; Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Sugar Creek Opera; Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Point Loma Opera Theatre; Hidraot in Gluck’s Armide with OperaNEO; Alidoro in an English version of La Cenerentola and Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance with Opéra Louisiane; the Captain of the Inquisition in Man of La Mancha and Dottore Grenvil in La traviata with Central City Opera; and Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia with the Green Mountain Opera Festival.
In concert, Mr. Arky has performed as Zuniga in Carmen with Denyce Graves and the Richmond Symphony, and as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Binghamton Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with Hunter College, Händel’s Messiah with Columbia University, and Puccini’s Messa di Requiem with the Greenwich Choral Society.
Mr. Arky was the 2016 recipient of the Rohatyn Great Promise Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Eastern Region). He was also a 2015 Regional Finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Eastern Region).
Mr. Arky holds a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a recipient of the President’s Award and the Alexandra Hunt Endowed Vocal Scholarship. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sustainable Development from Columbia University, where he graduated cum laude.
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LA CENA È PRONTA
LA CENA È PRONTA ("Dinner is ready") began two years ago as a live recital series. Passionate about the intersection between modern agricultural practices and great home cooking, and wishing to connect with audiences outside of the traditional venues of the concert hall and opera house, Josh devised of a performance experience that would explore these two intersecting passions: food and music.
Joshua Arky, Alexandra Rodrick, and pianist Ines Irawati performed for an intimate group of guests while simultaneously cooking them a multi-course meal, and thus LA CENA È PRONTA was born.
The event was so surprising and exhilarating to audiences that the LA CENA team reprised the event the following year. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, LA CENA È PRONTA extended its offerings to an online community of food and music lovers with a video series that features the same essence of culinary musical celebration that made the in-person events so exciting and one-of-a-kind.
LA CENA È PRONTA's guiding principles center around three things Joshua is passionate about: sustainable food, artistic freedom, and digital dignity. When food and music are mindfully, sustainably, and lovingly made (and eaten), they are inherently good, nourishing, and valuable, regardless of whether or not they fit into commonly accepted standards for what makes "good food" or "good music."
