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John Packard heldentenor
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Personal website:
www.johnpackard.com/
American singer John Packard has garnered international prominence on the opera stage as a baritone. He has recently transitioned to tenor and is poised to make a name for himself singing Heldentenor repertoire.
John created the role of Joseph deRocher for San Francisco Opera’s world premiere of Jake Heggie’s acclaimed Dead Man Walking (“a voice of ferocious power and insistence” – San Francisco Chronicle; “a deeply and powerfully affecting characterization”, The New York Times). John has performed the role more than 50 times in Europe and the USA, and can be heard in a live recording on Erato Disques.
John debuted Verdi’s Rigoletto (“…. a superb Verdi Baritone in John Packard – a seamless voice, with character and a gleaming upper register”, Opera Magazine) at the Hawaii Opera Theater in 2006, and has since performed the role for Shreveport Opera and Teatro Lirico d’Europa, and with Nickel City Opera in June 2010.
John has performed Rossini’s Barber of Seville more than 50 times, most recently with Buffalo’s Nickel City Opera (“….John Packard is the best Figaro I have ever seen… his singing is lusty, on the mark and marvelously expressive. He even accompanies himself on the guitar” – The Buffalo News).
Of his performance as Billy in Billy Budd, The Kansas City Star stated “… everything about this 50th anniversary production sparkled, especially John Packard .”
Mr. Packard has performed a variety of roles that must be termed ‘eclectic’, including:
Almaviva (Nozze di Figaro, Vancouver Opera); Billy (Billy Budd, Lyric Opera of Kansas City); both Brookeand Bhaer (Little Women, Santa Cruz, Opera Pacific, NYC Opera’s tour of Japan); Braxton (The Mines of Sulphur, Wexford Festival); Dandini (La Cenerentola, Columbus Opera);Don Alfonso (Cosi Fan Tutte, Opera Pacific); Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus, Calgary Opera); Emil de Becque (South Pacific, Fresno Grand Opera); Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor, Kentucky Opera); Falke (Die Fledermaus, Madison Opera); Figaro (Barber of Seville, NYC Opera National Tour, Opera Pacific, Nickel City Opera); George (Of Mice and Men; Lyric Opera of Kansas City); Germont (La Traviata, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Theater Erfurt {DE}); Henri (Le Roi Malgre Lui, American Symphony Orchestra, New York City); Henry (End of the Affair, Madison Opera); John Proctor (The Crucible, Mobile Opera); Klinghoffer (The Death of Klinghoffer); Marcello (La Boheme; Opera Company of Philadelphia, New York City Opera, New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv, New York City Opera National Tour); Oreste (Elektra, Long Beach Opera); Sharpless (Madama Butterfly, Baltimore Lyric Opera; Dallas Opera, Gran Teatro La Fenice, Opera Company of Philadelphia); Silvio (I Pagliacci, Nashville Opera); Sweeney (Sweeney Todd, Teatro Communale di Bologna, Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, Teatro Rossini di Lugo, Teatro Communale di Modena); Valentin (Faust, Wiener Volksoper) and Der Gouvenor (Wir erreichen den Fluss, Semperoper.
John has had the good fortune to work with Directors such as David Alden (Faust), Leonard Foglia (Dead Man Walking, The End of the Affair), Joe Mantello (Dead Man Walking), Paolo Micciche (Madama Butterfly) and Franco Zeffirelli (La Boheme), Stefano Vizioli (Madama Butterfly, La Fenice) and Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Dead Man Walking, Theater an der Wien).
John is the recipient of a Robert Jacobson grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and has been a winner of the Puccini, Loren Zachary, MacAllister and Liederkranz competitions.
