Bass-Baritone

Hailed by Opera News as an “excellent and exciting bass-baritone,” Peter Morgan has quickly developed a reputation as a dynamic performer at a number of companies nationally and internationally. Known for his versatility–in addition to the classic operatic canon–Mr. Morgan has made a name for himself as an interpreter of new music with several regional and world premieres to his name,  including Jason and the Argonauts by Gregory Spears with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Songbird by James Lowe and Kelly Rourke with The Glimmerglass Festival, the recent landmark production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles with L’Opéra Royal de Versailles (which is available to stream now on Medici TV), and the world premiere film of The Copper Queen by Clint Borzoni and John de los Santos with Arizona Opera,which was nominated for Best Digital Opera in the International Opera Awards. 

2022 -2023 season highlights include a return to Arizona Opera in the fall to sing Truffaldino in their production of Ariadne auf Naxos, Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music, and the Speaker in The Magic Flute. Mr. Morgan will also perform the role of Monterone in Intermountain Opera Bozeman‘s production of Rigoletto.

During the 2021-2022 season, Mr. Morgan made his house debut with Opera San José singing Moralès and covering Escamillo in Carmen. He also returned to Opera Carolina to sing the role of The Colonel in Zach Redler’s powerful opera, The Falling and the Rising. In the spring of 2022, Morgan returned to Lyric Opera of Kansas City to sing Angelotti and cover Scarpia in Tosca, and that summer he also returned to The Glimmerglass Festival to sing Zuniga in Carmen and Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music for Francesca Zambello’s final season as General Director.

In recent seasons, Mr. Morgan made his house debut with Arizona Opera, originating the role of Sugar Dog in their filmed world premiere of The Copper Queen by Clint Borzoni and John de los Santos (which went on to become an official selection in the Arizona Film Festival). Mr. Morgan also returned to The Glimmerglass Festival singing the role of Ferrando in Il Trovatore and Don Pedro in Songbird, a world premiere reimagining of Offenbach’s La Perichole set in 1920’s New Orleans with Jazz orchestration by Jim Lowe and libretto by Kelly Rourke. In the fall of 2021, Mr. Morgan made his debut with Lyric Opera of Kansas City singing King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Morgan also made his house debut in 2020 with Opera Carolina, singing Colline in La bohéme, and then reprised the same role with Toledo Opera. He also sang Publio in The Shepherd School of Music’s production of La clemenza di Tito (which was cut short due to COVID-19). Mr. Morgan was then to perform Timur in Turandot with Opera Grand Rapids before returning to The Glimmerglass Festival to cover Leporello in Don Giovanni, as well as Gernot in their production of Wagner’s Die Feen–all of which were either canceled or postponed due to the continuing pandemic. 

Mr. Morgan is a recent graduate of the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he was the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies Fellow, and was also awarded the coveted Brockman Scholarship for Opera.

Mexican-American bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba, praised by The Washington Post for his “meltingly smooth bass-baritone” and for “evoking a young Ruggero Raimondi in looks and manner”, represented the USA in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, was a member of the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago for three seasons, and a grand finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

This season he debuts with the Glimmerglass Festival, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Portland Opera as Escamillo in their respective productions of Bizet’s Carmen. He will also debut with Chicago Opera Theater in the world-premiere opera The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing composed by Justine F. Chen, and will return to the role of the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Knoxville Opera. On the concert stage, he will be seen as the bass soloist in performances of Messiah with the Palm Beach Symphony, Pulcinella with the Salisbury Symphony and returning to The Master Chorale of South Florida for performances of Verdi’s Requiem.

Making several debuts in the 2021/22 season, he debuted with New Zealand Opera as Figaro in their national touring production of Le nozze di Figaro, Opera Grand Rapids and Opera Carolina in the title role of Don Giovanni, the Jacksonville Symphony in their performances of Puccini’s La bohème in his role debut as Schaunard, the Palm Beach Symphony as the bass soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, and returned to Virginia Opera as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.

Recent season credits include a debut in the title role of Don Giovanni with Opera Hong Kong, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro with Minnesota Opera, Escamillo in Carmen with Kentucky Opera, Minnesota Opera, North Carolina Opera, Tulsa Opera, Annapolis Opera, and the Barhabor Music Festival. He has been a repeat featured soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, notably in performances of Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Handel’s Messiah.

While at the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, his tenure included productions of La Traviata, Capriccio, Anna Bolena, Tosca, The Passenger, Otello, Madama Butterfly, Parsifal and the title role in Don Giovanni – stepping into the iconic part with a few hours’ notice. Other operatic engagements include Asdrubale in Rossini’s La pietra del paragone, Fallito in Gassmann’s L’opera seria, Angelotti in Tosca, and Luciano in Musto’s Bastianello with Wolf Trap Opera; the title role in Don Giovanni with Intermountain Opera Bozeman; Timur in Turandot and Rochefort in Anna Bolena with Minnesota Opera; Ferrando in Il trovatore with North Carolina Opera, Colline in La bohème and Reverend John Hale in Ward’s The Crucible with Piedmont Opera, Pistola in Falstaff with Opera Omaha, and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Cleveland.

In addition to performances on the operatic stage, Mr. Ollarsaba appears regularly in concert and recital. He has been the bass soloist with the Mainly Mozart Festival in a rare performance of Mozart’s Thamos, König in Ägypten, Handel’s Messiah with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony, Bach’s St. John’s Passion with the Madison Bach Musicians, Dvorak’s Te Deum with Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Bernstein’s Songfest at the Ravinia Festival, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Master Chorale of South Florida and Macon Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem with the Salisbury Symphony, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. That concert was a gala celebration of the venerable festival’s 75th birthday and was telecast nationally on PBS.

A native of Tempe, Arizona, Richard Ollarsaba received his Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and his Master of Music and post-graduate certificate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. In addition to the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, he trained at Minnesota Opera, Music Academy of the West, Chautauqua Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood, and Wolf Trap Opera.