American tenor Nathaniel Peake, a 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Winner, has been admired for “his ringing tone and effortless phrasing” (San Francisco Chronicle).  The Lansing State Journal awarded him with a “Thespie” award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of the title role of Bernstein’s Candide.  In a recent production of L’Amico Fritz, Mr. Peake was lauded for his “brilliant performance in the title role, deploying a clarion tone that moved as deftly through the graceful ease of Act 1 as through the more emotionally urgent writing of the latter acts.” (San Francisco Chronicle).

An exciting season for 2011-2012 includes a return to the San Francisco Opera as Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, a new production by Jun Kaneko, conducted by Rory Macdonald, and debuts with Seattle Opera as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Minnesota Opera.  Mr. Peake will return to Syracuse Opera in a role debut as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata and to Wolf Trap Opera for his title role debut in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann and as Pirelli in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.

Nathaniel Peake began the 2010-2011 season performing Pinkerton in a new production of Madama Butterfly at Houston Grand Opera as well as Scaramuccio in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Arturo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.  He also presented a recital at the Morgan Library with legendary mezzo soprano Dolora Zajick as part of The George London Foundation recital series.  In the summer of 2010, Mr. Peake was seen on the stages Wolf Trap Opera as Sultan Soliman in Mozart’s Zaide, Albazar in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, and Snout in Britten’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream.  He also performed in concert with the National Symphony Orchestra. 

In 2008 and 2009, Nathaniel Peake was in the San Francisco Opera Merola program, performing the title role of Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz in addition to scenes from La Traviata, Manon, Werther, and Rigoletto.  In fall of 2009, he made his HGO debut in the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore. Mr. Peake was also seen at Syracuse Opera as the Second Priest/Amored Man in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Don José in Peter Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen, and Tybalt in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.

Nathaniel Peake has won several awards in competitions from, The George London Foundation (2010), The Metropolitan Opera National Council (2010), The Richard Tucker Foundation (2010), Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition (2010), The National Opera Association (2009), The Eleanor McCollum Vocal Competition (2009), and many more.

Mr. Peake hails from Humble, Texas, and is a graduate of Michigan State University.  Nathaniel credits his family for a large part of his success, as they continue to support him unwaveringly.