Hailed by the The New York Times as “passionate and resonant” and by Der Neue Merker for his “cultured singing,” American baritone David Pershall has established himself as an exciting and vibrant artist to watch. In the 2019/20 season, Mr. Pershall will make his house debut at San Diego Opera in the title role of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, a role he will reprise at Vero Beach Opera, and sing Silvio in I Pagliacci at Greensboro Opera. In concert, he will give solo recitals at Stanford University with pianist John Churchwell and at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and perform Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Yale Philharmonia and London Bach Choir, with tour stops in New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, Baltimore and New Haven.
In the 2018/19 season, Mr. Pershall returned to San Francisco Opera, where he was praised for his “deft performance” as Silvio in Pagliacci. He also sang Marcello in La bohème at Finger Lakes Opera, made his role debut as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus at the Des Moines Metro Opera Festival, and returned to the Metropolitan Opera for a production of Carmen. In concert, he performed selections from Beethoven’s Scottish Songs alongside the Mark Morris Dance Group at the La Jolla Summer Festival, gave a Schwabacher Series Recital with John Churchwell at San Francisco Opera, and appeared in a Rising Stars Concert alongside acclaimed tenor Marcello Giordani at Vero Beach Opera.
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Mr. Pershall joined the prestigious Vienna State Opera in 2014 as a Fest Artist, where he performed major roles such as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon, and Sebastian in The Tempest. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2015 as Figaro and returned in subsequent seasons as Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda. He also debuted as Roucher in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier at San Francisco Opera in 2016, and returned the following season as Lescaut. In concert, Mr. Pershall made his Carnegie Hall debut as Lord Nottingham in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux with Maestra Eve Queller, to great acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Europe is quickly embracing this exciting artist. In Mr. Perhsall’s debut at the Salzburger Landestheater, his performance as Marcello was acclaimed as “show stealing” and “magnificent.” Additional performances include Schaunard with Norwegian National Opera and Rodrigo in Don Carlos with Opera Burg Gars in Austria. Mr. Pershall has also collaborated with the Beethoven Easter Festival and Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, producing three live performance albums in which he headlined as Don Pedro in Maria Padilla, Manfredo in L’Amore dei Tre Re, and Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride.
Other notable performances include Papageno in The Magic Flute at Washington National Opera, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Florida Grand Opera, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore at Minnesota Opera, Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles at Virginia Opera, Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore with Sarasota Opera, and Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at Boston Lyric Opera.
Mr. Pershall is an avid concert performer, and has sung lieder works by Beethoven, Mahler, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Finzi. Additionally, he was the baritone soloist in St. Luke’s Passion with the Beethoven Easter Festival, a performance which was conducted by the composer Krzysztof Penderecki and presented as part of the twentieth edition of the festival. He has also appeared as the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and in A Sea Symphony with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Pershall has won First Prize in several international competitions, including the George London Award, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Marcello Giordani Foundation, the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, the New Jersey Verismo Competition, the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice, the Presser Music Foundation Award, and the Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence. 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 San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and Virginia Opera Resident Artist Program. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Baylor University, as well as a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music. He has appeared on television in performances as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and Germont in La Traviata, both of which were broadcast live on PBS.
