David Pershall

Baritone

Biography

Hailed by the New York Times as “passionate and resonant” and by Der Neue Merker for his “cultured singing,” American baritone David Pershall is quickly establishing himself as an exciting and vibrant artist. Last season, his engagements ranged from The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème, in which he performed the role of Schaunard, to his debut as Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at San Francisco Opera. Mr. Pershall was a soloist in the Central Park Summer Concert Series named Opera Italiana and he made his company debut as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Des Moines Metro Opera Festival.

This season, David returns to The Metropolitan Opera for Bizet’s Carmen and he sings Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci in a return to the San Francisco Opera. He also reprises the role of Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Greensboro Opera. Future engagements include his San Diego Opera debut.

Mr. Pershall joined the prestigious Vienna State Opera in 2014 as a Fest Artist, where he performed roles such as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, and Sebastian in The Tempest.

He made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera in 2015 in the role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and returned in subsequent seasons as Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda. Mr. Pershall also made an appearance at Carnegie Hall as Lord Nottingham in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux with Maestra Eve Queller, to great acclaim from critics and audiences alike. He also debuted as Rocher in Giordano’s epic Andrea Chénier at San Francisco Opera.

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David is an avid concert performer, with recitals planned for next season which will include works by Beethoven, Mahler, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Finzi. He has also performed concerts at the Vero Beach Opera, The View in Old Forge, for the Sergio Franchi Foundation, and at the Yale School of Music. Mr. Pershall was the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and in A Sea Symphony with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra.

Recently, he made his debut at the Salzburger Landestheater where his performance as Marcello in La Bohème was heralded as “show stealing” and “magnificent.” Europe is quickly embracing this exciting artist as he sang the roles of Schaunard in La Bohème with the Norwegian National Opera and Rodrigo in Don Carlos with Opera Burg Gras in Austria. Mr. Pershall also collaborated with the prestigious Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland where he performed the roles of Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride and Manfredo in L’Amore dei Tre Re.

A favorite or American stages, Mr. Pershall has sung at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall), the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Minnesota Opera, among others.

During his extraordinary career, David has been heard as Papageno in The Magic Flute at Washington National Opera, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at Boston Lyric Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore at Minnesota Opera, and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Florida Grand Opera.

Mr. Pershall has won First Prize in several international competitions, including the George London Award, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Jensen Foundation, the Marcello Giordani Foundation, the New Jersey Verismo Competition, the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, and the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice. He is also the recipient of several awards from other prestigious competitions such as The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Giulio Gari Foundation, the Opera Index Competition, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation and the National Bel Canto Vocal Competition.

David Pershall received his training at the Yale School of Music, and is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and the Virginia Opera Resident Artist Program.

Reviews

“David Pershall brought movie-star charisma and lots of personality to Figaro.”

Miami Herald

“Debonair baritone David Pershall brought to the arrogant, self-assured toreador Escamillo precisely the vocal and histrionic panache that the role requires.”

Voix des Arts

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