As a male soprano, able to sing parts originally written for 18th-century castrati, Michael Maniaci is something of a rare breed. His voice, a sixth higher than that of a countertenor, has been lauded as "a unique and exciting instrument" by the Washington Post and "truly extraordinary" by The Times. It has been quite a year for Maniaci. His solo album of Mozart arias, recorded with Boston Baroque, pulled off the double whammy of impressive sales and critical acclaim. Donald Rosenberg wrote in Gramophone that Maniaci's voice "possesses a timbre all his own, as well as the flexibility to allow him to soar through every florid challenge Mozart places before him". As well as a concert of the album, the 2009/10 season also saw Maniaci make his debut at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu as Amor in L'arbore di Diana, and play a female green grass snake in the world premiere of Boston Opera's production of Madame White Snake! Maniaci trained at the Juilliard School and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and gained some of his earliest professional experience at the Tanglewood Festival, where he became the first male soprano to be invited to the training programme. This season Maniaci will play Sesto in Opera Atelier's production of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, and he will reprise his role in Madame Whiteat the Beijing International Music Snake Festival. He might be playing a snake, but Maniaci is clearly heading straight to the top of the career ladder.