American bass-baritone Greer Grimsley enjoys a thriving international career which has spanned more than three decades and sees him positioned as one of the outstanding singing actors of his generation.
Recognised internationally as a Wagnerian of great note, Grimsley made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 2018 as both Wotan (Die Walküre) and Der fliegende Holländer, roles that have featured prominently in his performance schedule of the last years. Heralded as an “exquisitely nuanced Wotan” (San Francisco Chronicle), Grimsley has appeared in landmark productions of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Metropolitan Opera (Robert Lepage), Seattle Opera (Stephen Wadsworth) and San Francisco Opera (Francesca Zambello); and in Europe Grimsley’s Wotan has graced the stages of Teatro Real Madrid, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gran Teatre del Liceu and most recently Royal Swedish Opera under Alan Gilbert. Further notable Wagnerian performances include Wotan (Die Walküre) at New National Theatre Tokyo; Der fliegende Holländer at Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera and Ravinia Festival; Telramund (Lohengrin) at The Met, Royal Danish Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera; Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) at Bayreuth Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera and Amfortas (Parsifal) at The Met and Seattle Opera.
Two other roles have featured particularly prominently across Grimsley‘s seasons: Jochanaan/Salome (The Met, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Tokyo and Dallas Opera) and Scarpia/Tosca (San Diego Opera, The Met, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper der Stadt Köln, Den Norske Opera and at Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Center). Further recent roles have included Orest (Elektra), Macbeth, Jack Rance (La fanciullla del West), Don Pizarro (Fidelio) Captain Balstrode (Peter Grimes), Méphistophélès (Faust), Claggart (Billy Budd), Sweeney Todd, Villians (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and Mandryka (Arabella).