Jack Swanson

Stillwater, Minnesota native Jack Swanson is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after young tenors in the opera world. His distinctive high lyric voice is known for singing the acrobatic arias of Rossini and the legato melodies of Donizetti.

This season, Jack Swanson makes his much-anticipated debut at the Metropolitan Opera in his signature-role of Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, will also make both a house and a role debut with the Staatsoper Hamburg as Ernesto in Don Pasquale and will return to the Houston Grand Opera as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. He will also join Haymarket Opera for Artabano in Vinci’s Artaserse, to be recorded commercially. In concert he will make his Minnesota Orchestra debut as the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Music Director Thomas Søndergård conducting and will perform in recital in Charlottesville, VA. Future projects include returns to the Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival and debuts at the Opéra National de Paris, the English National Opera and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Last season, Mr. Swanson made some extremely successful debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, with the Houston Grand Opera as Fenton in Falstaff and the Arena di Verona as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He returned to the Norwegian Opera for Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte and Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, as well as to the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro for Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Count Belfiore in Il Viaggio a Reims (a role debut). Mr. Swanson was also heard in concert at the Festival de Paris and in recital in Montreal and with the Sag Harbor Song Festival. 

Also known for his concert work, Mr. Swanson’s credits include Handel’s Messiah, Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ, Mozart’s Requiem and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Other engagements include Holiday Favorites with the Arizona Opera and Birmingham Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera’s 60thanniversary gala where Mr. Swanson performed alongside HGO’s studio artists and world-renowned mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato. Swanson made his Kennedy Center debut singing selections from Schumann’s Dichterliebe. 

Mr. Swanson is the competition winner and recipient of several prestigious awards including first place in Florida Grand Opera’s Young Patroness Competition, The San Antonio Music Club Competition, The National Opera Association Competition and The Hal Leonard Art Song Competition. He twice received the Richard Tucker Memorial award from the Santa Fe Opera. He was a finalist in both Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum competition and Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Competition. Recently, Mr. Swanson was featured on National Public Radio's Young Artist in Residence program, Performance Today.