Ben Bliss
Hailed as a “truly exceptional tenor” by the National Review, Ben Bliss has established himself as one of the most exciting performers on today’s operatic stage, both in his native America and internationally. Bliss has been cited as “an exemplar of the Mozartean tenor” for his “purity of tone, vocal control and artistic sensitivity” (Opera Warhorses). A Grammy-nominated artist, he was a 2021 recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Beverly Sills Award. Bliss’ numerous other accolades include the 2016 Martin E. Segal Award at Lincoln Center, the Mozart and Plácido Domingo awards at the 2015 Francisco Viñas International Competition, first prize at the 2014 Gerda Lissner and Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation competitions, and the 2013 Operalia Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela. He is also the author of the Making It Work, a guide to financial and entrepreneurial literacy for freelance performers.
This season, Bliss makes his role debut as Alfredo in La traviata at the Bayerische Staatsoper before bringing the role to Washington National Opera for his house debut. He makes another house debut at the Staatsoper Berlin as the Duke in Rigoletto, returns to the Metropolitan Opera for his role debut as Nikolaus Sprink in a new production of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night and for the company’s Diamond Jubilee Gala, and returns to the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Tamino in a new production of Die Zauberflöte. Concert highlights include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood and his current recital tour with pianist Christopher Allen, taking him to Park Avenue Armory, Vocal Arts DC, and the Musco Center.
Last season, Bliss made his role debut as the Duke in Rigoletto with the Canadian Opera Company. He also returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, performed in Houston Grand Opera’s staged Messiah, and sang Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the St. Louis Symphony. Concert highlights included a return to the Chicago Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem, a solo recital at LA Opera, and a Messiah concert tour with the Handel and Haydn Society.
While in the Lindemann Program, Bliss made his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Vogelgesang in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg under James Levine and he has since returned as the Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Eric in the premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded. Bliss made his European debut as Belmonte with Glyndebourne Festival Opera on tour in 2015.
Other operatic highlights have included Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress at the Opéra national de Paris and Boston Lyric Opera; Jupiter in Semele for house debuts at both the Royal Opera House and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Tamino at the Bayerische Staatsoper, LA Opera, and Opera Philadelphia; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Opéra national de Paris and Canadian Opera Company; Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Wiener Staatsoper, Seattle Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Oper Frankfurt; Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande with the Bayerische Staatsoper; Roméo in Roméo et Juliette with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; and Flamand in Capriccio and Robert Wilson in Peter Sellars’ production of Doctor Atomic in Santa Fe. Concert highlights include performances with the Metropolitan Opera and Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.