Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen (countertenor) brings his “astonishingly beautiful,” “golden-toned” (The Guardian) instrument to a broad range of repertoire spanning the Baroque to the contemporary. Acclaimed as both a “young star” and “complete artist” by the New York Times and as “extravagantly gifted… poised to redefine what’s possible for singers of this distinctive voice type” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Nussbaum Cohen’s passion for creating performances of great vocal beauty and dramatic intensity have earned him a reputation as “a redefining force in the countertenor field” (Limelight).
This season, Nussbaum Cohen makes major title role debuts in Handel’s Rinaldo on an international concert tour with Harry Bicket leading The English Concert, Handel’s Tolomeo with Peter Whelan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydice with Dame Jane Glover conducting Music of the Baroque. On the opera stage, he makes his Spanish debut in Valencia as Handel’s Giulio Cesare under the baton of Marc Minkowski, and he returns to Houston Grand Opera in a fully staged presentation of Robert Wilson’s mesmerizing vision of the beloved Messiah.
Recent seasons have taken him to many of the world’s greatest venues and orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera; Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich); Opernhaus Zürich; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; San Francisco Opera, Ballet, and Symphony; Los Angeles Opera; Glyndebourne; Carnegie Hall; the Kennedy Center; La Monnaie de Munt (Brussels); the Salzburger Festspiele; the Adelaide Festival (Australia); Komische Oper Berlin; and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw.
Nussbaum Cohen’s first commercial recording—the world premiere of Kenneth Fuchs’ Poems of Life with the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta—was honored with a Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium in 2019. His growing recording catalogue includes Uncharted, which BBC Music Magazine hailed as “excellent… achingly beautiful… Nussbaum Cohen’s countertenor is characterized by its richness and warmth, wielded with great technical skill.” Other recordings include Handel’s Jephtha with Music of the Baroque; Handel’s Saul with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; music by Gluck, Handel, and Vivaldi with American Bach Soloists; and releases of Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Magnificat and Bach’s St. John Passion with the Cantata Collective.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University, Nussbaum Cohen went on to become the first countertenor in the history of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. He is also a proud graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Fellowship Programs.