American baritone Jarrett Porter, whom Opera News noted has an “imposing baritone,” is emerging as a versatile artist known for his strong acting, sonorous voice, and handsome, youthful look. In the 2021-2022 season, Mr. Porter returns to Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Dr. Oliver Sacks in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Awakenings, and joins Arizona Opera as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte.
Cancellations due to the Covid-19 panemic included Simon Fenton in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline with Tulsa Opera. During the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Porter joined The Juilliard School as a candidate for an artist diploma in opera studies and returned to Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the world premiere of Steven Mackey’s Moon Tea as Neil Armstrong. His 2019-2020 season featured his principal and house debut with Tulsa Opera as Dancaïre in Carmen, while on the concert stage, he joined Renée Fleming and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra as a soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, under the baton of Harry Bicket.
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Mr. Porter is a graduate of the Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist at Arizona Opera, where he performed Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Antonio and the cover of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Father Palmer in Silent Night, and Baron Douphol in La traviata. In the 2017-2018 season at Arizona Opera, he was seen as the title role in Patrick Morganelli’s Hercules vs Vampires, Maximilian in Candide, Sciarrone in Tosca, and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia. He joined Santa Fe Opera in 2018 as a member of the company’s prestigious Apprentice Program, singing Der Perückenmacher in Ariadne auf Naxos, and covering Maximilian in Candide. He returned to Santa Fe Opera in 2019 to cover Guglielmo and sing the Sergeant in La bohème, Role engagements elsewhere have included the title role of Don Giovanni and Eugene Onegin, Le Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet’s Le portrait de Manon, Sid in Albert Herring, Harry Easter in Weill’s Street Scene, and Morales in Carmen. Other programs include Opera Saratoga (2016) and The Glimmerglass Festival (2017), as well as Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy (2014).
A passionate and in-demand interpreter of new music and recital repertoire, Mr. Porter was the recipient of the inaugural Pankonin Art Song Award for his collaboration with composer Matthew Boehler and librettist Tony Asaro to create the new song-cycle Passed, and has appeared in performance with Jake Heggie at the German Consulate of San Francisco in a program of Heggie’s newest endeavors, including selections from his chamber opera, Out of Darkness. Mr. Porter was a fellow at SongFest at the Hidden Valley Music Festival under the mentorship of Sir Thomas Allen and Graham Johnson. Accompanied by narration from Mr. Allen and Mr. Johnson, he made his National Public Radio debut with selections from Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, and in the spring of 2018 joined pianist Taylor Hutchinson in recital to present Winterreise in Katzin Hall at Arizona State University.
Jarrett Porter is the recipient of the Lisa and Bernie Kalvelage Award at the 2018 Holt Competition, the 2017 Grand Prize Winner of the Pacific Music Society Competition, the Ellie Silver Award Winner at the 2017 Holt Competition, and the First Prize of the inaugural Esther C. Weill Competition. A native of coastal New Jersey, he holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music (2015) and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (2017), where he was a James Schwabacher Fellow. A student of Darrell Babidge and Cesar Ulloa, Mr. Porter is a French speaker and resides on the East Coast.
