In his second season as a member of the prestigious Houston Grand Opera Studio, accomplished young bass Nicholas Masters is a recent First Prize and Audience Choice winner in the 2013 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. This season with Houston Grand Opera Nicholas performs Colline in La bohème both at the Wortham Center and the Miller Outdoor Theater as well as the Old Gypsy in Il Trovatore. Nicholas was a National Grand Finalist in the 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, second prize winner in the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, and finalist and recipient of encouragement awards from the 2011 Opera Index, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation and George London Foundation Awards. Previous appearances in Houston include Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Dottore Grenvil in La traviata, as well as two unexpected performances of The Spirit of Charles V in Don Carlos filling in at the last moment for an ill colleague. Upcoming engagements include Robert in Les vêpres Siciliennes with the Caramoor Festival, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Opera Theater of Connecticut and Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia.