With an affinity for high lyric repertoire and some of opera’s most challenging arias, young American tenor Jack Swanson is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after voices in opera. A string of impressive European debuts in recent seasons include his first Nemorino in Oliver Mears’ new production of L’elisir d’amore for Den Norske Opera, Sam Kaplan in Weill’s Street Scene for Oper Köln, Conte Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) for Glyndebourne on Tour, and Candide in concert at both Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Opéra de Marseille under Robert Tuohy. He returns to Europe this season as Rodrigo in Damiano Michieletto’s new production of Rossini’s Otello for his debut at Oper Frankfurt.
Following his studies at the University of Oklahoma and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Jack performed the title role in Britten’s comic opera Albert Herring as a young artist with The Seagle Music Colony, and subsequently spent two years as an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera; Jack has since returned to Santa Fe as Lindoro (L’italiana in Algeri) under Corrado Rovaris and appears there again this season as Conte Almaviva. This season, Jack adds Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) at Opera Omaha and creates the title role in the world premiere of Edward Tulane for Minnesota Opera.
Equally comfortable on the concert and recital platforms, Jack Swanson sang selections from Schumann’s Dichterliebe for his debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and in Europe a series of concerts with Orchestre National de Lille for the Leonard Bernstein centenary. He sings Rossini’s Messa di Gloria for the first time this season with Speranza Scappucci and the Insula Orchestra at La Seine Musicale.
Jack has had great competition success and been the recipient of several prestigious awards in recent years, including first place in Florida Grand Opera’s Young Patroness Competition, The San Antonio Music Club Competition, The National Opera Association Competition and The Hal Leonard Art Song Competition. He twice received the Richard Tucker Memorial award from Santa Fe Opera, and was a finalist in both Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum competition and Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Competition. Jack Swanson studies with Stephen King.
