“Far and away the most commanding performance was that of bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as Leporello.  He has a naturally beautiful, superbly trained voice, rich and clear at the low end, smooth and flexible in the middle range and effortless at the top.  Good as his sound was, his acting was better.  Ketelsen fully realized the role.  He was rewarded at the curtain-call by an uninhibited outburst of cheering and a standing ovation.” (Opera News)

American bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is in regular demand by the world’s leading opera houses and orchestras for his vibrant and handsome stage presence and distinctive vocalism.

In the 2023/24 season, Kyle Ketelsen will debut at the Opéra National de Paris in title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Mr. Ketelsen will also return to Staatsoper Hamburg to sing Jochanaan in Richard Strass’ Salome. Kyle Ketelsen will return to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Escamillo in a new production conducted by Daniele Rustioni in Carmen and Richard in a new production by Dimitri Tcherniakov conducted by Kent Nageno in The Hours. His concerts engagements include performances of Mozart’s Requiem with the Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Enrique Mazzola. Kyle Ketelsen will also sing Verdi’s Requiem with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2022/23 season, Mr. Ketelsen returned to The Metropolitan Opera for the world premiere of Richard in The Hours opposite Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, and Joyce DiDonato, conducted by Nézet-Séguin, which was broadcasted live in HD. He returned to Wiener Staatsoper in the title role in Don Giovanni. His concerts engagements included performances of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. Mr. Ketelsen sung Mozart’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Bravo!Vail Music Festival conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additional concert engagements included his first performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Utah Symphony under the baton of Thierry Fischer. Mr. Ketelsen returned to the Los Angeles Opera as Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by James Conlon and directed by Sir David McVicar.

In previous seasons, Kyle Ketelsen made his house debuts at Wiener Staatsoper in the title role of Don Giovanni and at Teatro de la Maestranza as Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande. He returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, returned to Canadian Opera Company in the title role of Bluebeard’s Castle, and sang Escamillo in Carmen with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid. Mr. Ketelsen returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich for his role debut as Kaspar in Der Freischütz in a new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov, and to Dutch National Opera for his role debut as Adahm in Rudi Stephan’s Die ersten Menschen. Mr. Ketelsen sang Leporello Don Giovanni at both Washington National Opera and Staatsoper Hamburg, and returned to Opernhaus Zürich for his role debut as Selim Il Turco in Italia. He was also scheduled to sing the Four Villains Les contes d’Hoffmann at New National Theatre Tokyo, and to make his role debut in the title role of Saint François d’Assise at Grand Théâtre de Genève. He also reprised Leporello with Musica Aeterna under the baton of Teodor Currentzis.

Other operatic highlights include Golaud Pelléas et Mélisande, Escamillo Carmen, Leporello Don Giovanni and Mr. Flint Billy Budd at the Metropolitan Opera; Conte Rodolfo La Sonnambula, Méphistophélès Faust and Golaud Pelléas et Mélisande at Opernhaus Zürich; Escamillo Carmen at San Francisco Opera; King of Scotland Ariodante, Masetto Don Giovanni, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro and Méphistophélès Faust at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Méphistophélès La Damnation de Faust in Linz and Bonn with Les Siècles; Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Dutch National Opera and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Figaro Le nozze di Figaro at the Staatsoper Berlin and the Gran Teatre del Liceu; Leporello Don Giovanni at Dallas Opera and Opéra National de Lyon; Golaud at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Enrico VIII Anna Bolena at Minnesota Opera; Don Fernando Fidelio at Houston Grand Opera; and Cadmus Semele and Alidoro La Cenerentola  at the Canadian Opera Company.

Recent concert highlights include performances with Harry Bicket and The English Concert on tour as Zoroastro in Handel’s Orlando, as well as appearances with the St. Louis Symphony and Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah under the baton of Bernard Labadie. Other performances include Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Beethoven’s Fidelio with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, Mozart’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pinchas Zukerman, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Masaaki Suzuki, de Falla’s Master Peter’s Puppet Show with The Knights at the Tanglewood Festival, and Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Ketelsen made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Oratorio Society of New York in Haydn’s Creation and reprised this work with Music of the Baroque in Chicago. Other career highlights on the concert stage include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Berlioz’s Lélio, de Falla’s El Retablo del Maese Pedro, and Kaija Saariaho’s Cinq reflets au l’Amour de loin, under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen; with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex; with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella under the baton of Pierre Boulez, for a recording released on CD; with the Seattle Symphony in Mozart’s Requiem under Itzhak Perlman; with the Cleveland Orchestra in Haydn’s Harmoniemesse under Franz Welser-Möst; and with the Orchestre National de France, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Ketelsen has won First Prize in several international vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Richard Tucker Music Foundation (Career Grant), the George London Foundation, Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Opera Index, MacAllister Awards, Fort Worth Opera, National Opera Association, Connecticut Opera, and Liederkranz Foundation. He is an alumnus of the University of Iowa and Indiana University.