The following are excerpts of press reviews from the following publications:

Opera Now

• "In this production, tenor Ray Bauwens undertook the title role, doing an admirable job. With mellifluous, expressive tones, the multi-talented singer scurried around the stage, with his compact build and remarkable agility, juggling, dancing and doing acrobatics, all the while conveying an appropriate child-like humility and innocence. " (Karyl Lynn Zietz, January/February 2003)

Opera News

• "Ray Bauwens was a full-throated, exciting, vigorous Pollione." (Jeffrey C. Smith, January 17, 1998)

Boston Globe

• Click here for an full feature article on Ray that appeared in the Boston Globe.
  
  

• ''L' elisir'' is traditionally the tenor's opera, and the tenor was the Boston Academy of Music's shining star, Ray Bauwens. He might have been born to sing and act this role - but he wasn't born to sing it over and through a heavy cold. Hoarseness unexpectedly invaded his first aria, and afterward he sometimes lacked the sweet, ductile tone we admire in him. But his phrasing was ardent, elegant and heartfelt, and he's a wonderful actor. He played the lovelorn Nemorino not as a simpleton but as an adult who has never learned to hide or socialize the simple, unshakable feelings of childhood. He realized a fair number of his vocal intentions, and all of his interpretive wishes, in a touching delivery of the opera's greatest hit, ''Una furtiva lagrima.'' (Richard Dyer, October 15, 2001)
   

• "Bauwens sang Riccardo, the governor of Massachusetts (the actual governor in 1792 was John Hancock). Bauwens has the same facial structure as the legendary Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli and a smooth lyric tenor voice with plenty of punch for the climactic notes and phrases. He's an accomplished technician - able to leap cleanly over an octave and a half and to send a chuckle skimming over a musical line like a stone over water. He sings with the romantic passion the idiom requires and the musical taste it doesn't often get. He's also an engaging actor who never steps out of character to behave like a tenor." (Richard Dyer, April 24, 2001)
   

• "Tenor Ray Bauwens is one of my favorite singers. His voice has that real Italianate sweetness and eagerness; he is a generous, fearless performer. He has sung all sorts of repertory from Baroque to modern, but he is most at home in the big-hearted Italian repertory, like Donizetti, Verdi, and Tosti. His Jordan Hall recital ''Favorite Songs and Operatic Arias'' contained much that made you glad to be alive." (Susan Larson, May 22, 1999)
   

• "Tenor Ray Bauwens kept Riccardo's role within a lyric frame, reminding this listener of Carlo Bergonzi's way with the part; Bauwens brought straight forward dignity, sweetness, warmth, and security to the part. Perhaps he slighted the daredevil aspect of this role, but one was once again amazed that a tenor of this quality isn't making his living in opera, when lots of tenors who aren't this good do." (Richard Dyer, March 30, 1999)
   

• "Only one member of the cast, tenor Ray Bauwens, really had the vocal and technical resources his part requires. Roberto Devereux - the Earl of Essex - is the title role, but it is doubtful whether any previous singer of the part has succeeded in wresting the spotlight from the evening's diva. Bauwens did it by singing fluently, ardently, expansively, and tastefully, with a real sense of how to shape Italian melody; he also sang well within his vocal means. His prison scene in the Tower of London became the expressive climax of the opera, as Donizetti must have intended it to." (Richard Dyer, June 15, 1998)
   

• "Ray Bauwens outsang the tenors on the starry recordings of ‘Arabella’ in the difficult and thankless role of Matteo..." (Richard Dyer, May 18, 1998)
   
• "Tenor Ray Bauwens, ardent as the two-timing Pollione, darkened his sweet Italianate voice for this low-lying role, then threw his whole heart into singing it, daring the high C that most Polliones prefer to omit." (Susan Larson, September 16, 1997)
   
• "Tenor Ray Bauwens sang strongly with touching sweetness..." (Susan Larson, April 7, 1997)
   
• "Ray G. Bauwens is the closest thing to an Italian tenor New England has produced since Eugene Conley came out of Lynn. Bauwens has a tone both sweet and ringing…he sings well within his resources and with some elegance of style." (Richard Dyer, May 22, 1996)

Boston Herald

• "You certainly couldn't ask for a better principal foursome than Ray Bauwens and James Lambert, as the Venetian gondoliers (and would-be Baratarian kings) of the title, and Joanna Mongiardo and Roberta Janelle as their wives. In particular, tenor Bauwens had the soul of Italy firmly in his golden vocal cords." (T.J. Medrek, November 26, 2000)

Cape Cod Times

• "Singing the vocally demanding, emotionally draining roles of Turridu and Canio (the tenor lead in "I Pagliacci") in one evening is not recommended, but tenor Ray Bauwens of Worcester proved he had the stamina and vocal resources to get the job done - with ringing high notes and emotional intensity to spare." (Anna Crebo, February 22, 2004)

OperaOnline

• "Ray Bauwens plays the heartsick Canio in Pagliacci, and the philandering Turridu in Rusticana. He was simply magnificent. His strong tenor voice contained depth and projection that at one point was so powerful and laden with emotion that his activity on stage in Pagliacci piqued the interest of members of the orchestra. I know I sat in the front row. Specifically, it was the moment at the end of Act One when Canio, as Pagliacci, filled with grief over the abandonment by his wife, Nedda, falls to the stage and weeps, his voice descending from tenor to deep baritone in such a way that his wails overwhelm one’s senses. In Rusticana, Bauwens again delivered mightily and no more need be said. This tenor, soars!" (Paul Joseph Walkowski, February 22, 2004)

Cape Cod Today

• "Words seem too limited in describing the richness of Ray Bauwens’ tenor voice in the part of Canio, the betrayed husband. Cushioned by a hidden baritone velvet, Bauwens wrenched your heart by his despair, rage, and sorrow over his wife’s illicit affair. His clown eyes, painted with tears, seemed unbearable to watch. Again, Ray Bauwens gave us emotional chills with his vocal and acting craft as the brazen and heartless Turridu. He, too, has mastered the Sarah Caldwell goal of entwining opera with theatre. It is astonishing that Bauwens maintains his day job in Worcester while traveling the world to star in a variety of operas." (Libby Hughes, February 23, 2004)

Providence Journal

• "Tenor Ray Bauwens was in good voice, never forcing and always sounding sweet and warm." (Channing Gray, March 9, 1998)

Boston Phoenix

• "This is a one-man opera, and in the role of the innocent Juggler, Jean, whose empty stomach and spiritual hunger lead him to give up his roving life and enter the monastery, it’s hard to imagine improving upon that endearing BAM stalwart, tenor Ray Bauwens (against Massenet’s intentions, this role became a celebrated vehicle for the legendary soprano Mary Garden, Debussy’s original Mélisande). Bauwens has always been a game performer. Here he not only had to sing and dance but also had to juggle (which he did with commendable success). His big voice filled Northeastern’s Blackman Theatre (BAM’s home this season while the Emerson Majestic is being restored to its original glory). His uninhibited "private performance" for the Blessed Virgin, the emotional center of the opera, was one of the most moving opera performances I’ve seen in years. "It made me cry," a friend admitted, and I had to confess the same. (Lloyd Scwartz, October 17, 2002)
   

• "There was one pressing reason for Boston Academy of Music to do Donizetti’s chestnut of a comic opera, L’elisir d’amore ( " The Elixir of Love " ) — the part of Nemorino, one of Luciano Pavarotti’s favorite roles, is perfect for BAM’s leading tenor, Ray Bauwens. Its lyrical outpourings — especially the famous aria " Una furtiva lagrima " — fits his voice like a comfortable old sweater. The foolish but endearing peasant who’s in love with the lovely but standoffish Adina (an intellectual snob whose favorite book is the romance of Tristan and Isolde) capitalizes on Bauwens’s ability to play both comedy and pathos. Bauwens was certainly the highlight of BAM’s new production, which came to life whenever he was on stage. Few tenors are able to imbue 'Una furtiva lagrima' (the moment when Nemorino realizes that Adina really loves him — because he’s seen a " furtive tear " drop from her eye) with as much feeling as Bauwens did." (Lloyd Scwartz, October 18, 2001)
   

• "Ray Bauwens has something few other tenors have these days: a real voice – sizable, powerful, colorful, and seemingly effortless. A firm column of supported sound seems to well up from his toes. And his Italian is impeccable." (Lloyd Schwartz, June 18, 1998)

The TAB

• "Ray Bauwens, a last-minute substitute tenor, brought both stylishness and uncommon urgency to the thrice-familiar Handel oratorio (Messiah)." (T.J. Medrek, December 23, 1997)
   

• "Bauwens, with his plangent way of singing, was the standout…" (T.J. Medrek, July 22, 1997)

Bay Windows

• "Ray Bauwens as Leicester…once again proved that he knows how to make Italian Opera sing." (T.J. Medrek, April 10, 1997)
   

• "Ray G. Bauwens…was the surprise of the evening. He employed his plangent tone with commendable vigor and grace, generating much excitement. His was far more than a promising performance. It was one that really delivered." (T.J. Medrek, May 23, 1996)

Worcester Telegram and Gazette

• "Bauwens is one of the most versatile, critically acclaimed and just plain glorious voices to have graced the New England music scene in recent years. He is equally at home in baroque, sacred, Italian opera and American popular music of all eras." (David Lasky, December 13, 1999)

Hartford Courant

• "As Riccardo, the fictitious governor of Boston and lover of his best friend's wife, tenor Ray Bauwens revealed a golden voice of natural beauty, with high notes that resonated with power. His commanding vocalism in the challenging arias and ensembles made one wonder why the major opera companies have not discovered him." (Tony Angarano, November 18, 2002)

MusicWeb International

• "As the caddish Anatol Ray Bauwens sings ardently and with the right amount of Italianate ring. He is especially effective when combining with Vanessa and the ardour of their duet in Act II (CD 2, tracks 4 and 5) would not suffer in comparison to Puccini. His character may not engage our sympathies greatly but it’s not meant to. Bauwens delivers the goods." (John Quinn)