Peter Tantsits

Peter Tantsits made an auspicious debut at Milan's Teatro alla Scala last spring when he sang the high-lying role of Syme on short notice for the Italian premiere of Lorin Maazel's opera 1984. Recent performances include debuts with some of the world's top orchestras: the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich with which he made his Austrian debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus in CANDIDE lead by Kristjan Järvi, Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic as Spoletta in TOSCA in his acclaimed Lincoln Center debut, the National Symphony lead by Leonard Slatkin in SALOME as Vierte Jude in his Kennedy Center debut with Deborah Voigt, and his debut with the American Symphony Orchestra and Leon Botstein as Pellerin in Dallapiccola's early opera VOLO DI NOTTE at Avery Fisher Hall.  A "vivid Spieltenor," Mr. Tantsits has sung for three seasons with the Festival Lyrique-en-mer in France performing Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the festival orchestra under Philip Walsh as well as Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, Spoletta in TOSCA, Caius in FALSTAFF, Gastone in TRAVIATA, and Nathanaël, Spalanzani, Frantz, and Pittichinaccio in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN, for which he was praised by French critic Cyril Brun for "marvelously incarnating his roles, simultaneously revealing his exceptional talent as an actor and as a singer".  This season Mr. Tantsits created the role of Xu Xian MADAME WHITE SNAKE by Zhou Long with Opera Boston. Mr. Tantsits looks forward to returning to the New York Philharmonic in the summer of 2010 performing the role of the White Minister LE GRAND MACABRE under the baton of Maestro Gilbert, and will also perform CANDIDE under Kristjan Järvi with the Münchner Philharmoniker next season.  

Peter Tantsits made an auspicious debut at Milan's Teatro alla Scala last spring when he sang the high-lying role of Syme on short notice for the Italian premiere of Lorin Maazel's opera 1984. Recent performances include debuts with some of the world's top orchestras: the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich with which he made his Austrian debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus in CANDIDE lead by Kristjan Järvi, Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic as Spoletta in TOSCA in his acclaimed Lincoln Center debut, the National Symphony lead by Leonard Slatkin in SALOME as Vierte Jude in his Kennedy Center debut with Deborah Voigt, and his debut with the American Symphony Orchestra and Leon Botstein as Pellerin in Dallapiccola's early opera VOLO DI NOTTE at Avery Fisher Hall.  A "vivid Spieltenor," Mr. Tantsits has sung for three seasons with the Festival Lyrique-en-mer in France performing Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the festival orchestra under Philip Walsh as well as Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, Spoletta in TOSCA, Caius in FALSTAFF, Gastone in TRAVIATA, and Nathanaël, Spalanzani, Frantz, and Pittichinaccio in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN, for which he was praised by French critic Cyril Brun for "marvelously incarnating his roles, simultaneously revealing his exceptional talent as an actor and as a singer".  This season Mr. Tantsits created the role of Xu Xian MADAME WHITE SNAKE by Zhou Long with Opera Boston. Mr. Tantsits looks forward to returning to the New York Philharmonic in the summer of 2010 performing the role of the White Minister LE GRAND MACABRE under the baton of Maestro Gilbert, and will also perform CANDIDE under Kristjan Järvi with the Münchner Philharmoniker next season.  

Since making his European operatic debut in Charpentier's ACTÉON in the 2003 Aldeburgh Festival under Emmanuelle Haïm as a Britten-Pears young artist, Mr. Tantsits has gone on to concertize in Great Britain, France, Russia and throughout the United States and Mexico, performing solo recitals in such venues as the Snape Maltings in Suffolk and the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow. He recently won acclaim in the Middle East for his portrayal of Tony in WEST SIDE STORY in Dubai and has performed with companies such as the Mark Morris Dance Group as Sailor in DIDO AND AENEAS; Fresno Grand Opera as Edmondo, Maestro di ballo, and Lampionaio MANON LESCAUT; Acanthus Opera as Arbaces in Thomas Arne's ARTAXERXES; Central City Opera as Andrès, Spalanzani, Frantz, and Pittichinaccio LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN and Captain Tarnitz STUDENT PRINCE;Birmingham Opera as Spoletta in TOSCA; Chautauqua Opera as Spoletta in TOSCA; Orchestra New England as Martin in THE TENDER LAND; Ash Lawn Opera as Goro in MADAMA BUTTERFLY; the Greenwich Music Festival in a staged version of Handel's BIRTHDAY ODE FOR QUEEN ANNE; Salt Marsh Opera as Arturo in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and as Gastone in LA TRAVIATA; Don Ottavio in DON GIOVANNI with both Riverside Concert Opera and the New York Opera Project; and Opera New Jersey as Bardolfo in FALSTAFF. His training at Yale University and the Oberlin Conservatory lead to numerous roles, highlights of which include Kudrjàš in KÀT'A KABANOVÀ, Riccardo in IL TRIONFO DELL'ONORE, Léandre in LE MÉDECIN MALGRÉ, Don Ramiro in LA CENERENTOLA, and Gonzalve in L'HEURE ESPANGOLE.

Originally trained as a violinist, he holds degrees in voice and musicology from Yale University and the Oberlin Conservatory. His extensive work in 18th century French music includes the role of Tacmas alongside Agnès Mellon in Rameau's LES INDES GALANTES and the title role in PLATÉE, as well as works by Campra, Charpentier, Clérambault, and Montéclair.

Mr. Tantsits regularly performs with leading contemporary music ensembles and is widely noted for his performances of King George III in Peter Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King, a production that has been embraced internationally; "riveting" says the Chicago Tribune "with histrionic talent and vocalism difficult to surpass" (La Jornada), and Alex Ross of the New Yorker called it "one of the sharpest shows I saw last season." He was invited twice to the Festival Internacional de Musica Contemporánea in Morelia, Mexico and has recently performed works such as Harrison Birtwistle's Ring a Dumb Carillon, Ligeti's Adventures, Xenakis's Kassandra, Luigi Nono's A floresta é jovem e cheja de vida, and Berio's Melodramma. His performance of Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony No. 5 at the Bang-on-a-Can Marathon Festival was praised by Steve Smith in the New York Times for capturing the "vigor in the high-minded severity of piece." He records Ricardo Zohn Muldoon's opera COMALA for Bridge Records this spring.