René Massis studied Modern Literature at the University of Lyon and singing at the Conservatoire de Lyon. He then stayed for seven years in Italy (Milan) to improve and study the Italian repertoire.
During his long career, he sang many leading baritone roles of the French and Italian repertoire, including Faust, Carmen, Les Pêcheurs de perles, L'Heure espagnole, Werther, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, La Favorite, La Traviata, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Falstaff,Sicilian Vespers, Ernani, Otello, Un ballo in maschera, Simon Boccanegra, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and André Chénier. He also successfully portrayed the eponymous Wozzek and Fyodor Shaklovity in Khovanshchina.
He has performed at all opera houses in France, including Opera National de Paris, Opéra-Comique, and Theatre des Champs-Elysées, and across Europe (La Scala in Milan; the operas in Geneva, Lausanne, and Frankfurt; Scottish Opera; Glyndebourne Festival; the operas in Amsterdam, Bergamo, Florence, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Turin, Barcelona, and Madrid).
After retiring from the stage, he was the casting director and artistic manager at the Opéra National de Lyon.
In 2006 he founded Agence Massis Opéra in Paris.
