Tenor Nathan Granner has enjoyed a unique and diverse performing career which has allowed him to leverage his distinctive timbre and impressive range in a multitude of projects and productions.
Granner’s early studies included training with Utah Festival Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera Center. Granner was also a semifinalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York City. During one whirlwind period which showcased his varied interests and versatility, Nathan was singing on the stage of the Met, played his first rock performance in a popular Orlando bar, and was signed to a recording contract by Sony Classical. Between it all, he sang Camille in The Merry Widow at Light Opera Oklahoma and Beppe in I Pagliacci with Opera Tampa under the baton of Anton Coppola.
Other early career engagements for Mr. Granner included Nemorino at Lyric Opera Kansas City and Remus at Opera Theater Saint Louis. He also sang with the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Irish Radio Orchestra, the Handel/Haydn Society, and Kansas City Symphony performing the tenor parts in the Verdi Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Elijah, Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah and a number of Bach Cantatas (collaborating regularly with the Bach Aria Soloists).
In the early 2000s, Nathan was a founding member of The American Tenors, whose Sony Masterworks Classical album reached top five in the classical crossover charts. He has also toured extensively with classical guitarist Beau Bledsoe, singing new arrangements of lieder and chanson, authentic Flamenco, Tango, Turkish music and new compositions.
Granner’s unique versatility and easy command of varying styles of compositions has lead to engagements creating numerous new opera roles for an extensive range of works including Kanye West in Fair Looks and True Obedience, to Aubrey Wells in Today it Rains and the Pulitzer prize-winning Korey Wise in The Central Park Five.
Most recently, Mr. Granner has achieved critical success in a challenging and unique mix of roles and works including a debut of Verdi’s Alfredo with both Fort Worth Opera and Opera Santa Barbara, an on-film and studio soundtrack recording of the title role in Gordon Getty’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and Rob Hall in the award-winning animated film Everest, produced by Opera Parallèle and presented by The Dallas Opera.
New roles for the upcoming season will include Don Ottavio, Don José, Cavaradossi, and Bill Watson in Paul Moravec’s The Shining.
Mr. Granner is fiercely devoted to various philanthropic efforts, and has performed at dozens of charitable fundraisers with David Foster and Friends. In the process, he has helped to raise tens of millions of dollars to fund the researching of cures for Parkinson’s disease and cancer, and for aid in the areas of children’s health, wildlife conservation and substance abuse.
Nathan is also an avid karaoke devotee and a certified Bohemian.
American tenor Ben Gulley has been hailed as “outstanding” (Opera News) and “startlingly gifted” (San Francisco Classical Voice). An exceptionally versatile artist, Mr. Gulley’s recent seasons have included feature roles in opera, solo engagements, concert, film work, touring and important appearances abroad. Recent artistic and critical triumphs include his 2022 Broadway World Best Actor In A Musical award-winning debut as Quasimodo in Dennis DeYoung’s Hunchback of Notre Dame with Skylight Music Theater (2022), a debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca with Sarasota Opera (2022), Tenor Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (2021) and Tenor Soloist in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde opposite mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung with the Belgian National Orchestra in Brussels and Namur, Belgium (2021).
Recent and upcoming season highlights for 2022-2023 and beyond include engagements with the Asheville Symphony(“Night at the Opera”), Hidden Valley Music Seminars, the Tallahassee Symphony (“Viva Verdi!”), Tenor Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Orchestra Iowa, Radames in Aida with Fort Worth Opera, Tenor Soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deumwith the Belgian National Orchestra in Brussels, Belgium, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Orlando. In April of 2023, Gulley enjoyed a triumph with Portland Opera, jumping into the role of the Prince in Rusalka on two days’ notice and traveling directly to a dress rehearsal with no prior musical or stage rehearsals.
The COVID-19 disruption in the performing arts saw Mr. Gulley making his Dallas Opera Recital (digital) debut in 2020, an “Opera in the Park” concert with Opera Idaho in 2021, Aria-Thon and “Opera in the Park with Ben” with Opera Steamboat in 2020, and recitals for Perdue University, North Dakota State University, Epworth by the Sea, Banner Elk Community Concerts and the Jacksonville, FL Museum of Science and History in 2021. Gulley was in the process of completing his acclaimed 2019-2020 “Ben Gulley National Concert Tour” (presented by LiveONStage) just before the tour was concluded early due to the pandemic.
Previous seasons included engagements with Opera San Luis Obispo as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Sarasota Opera as Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco, a debut as the Prince in Dvorak’s Rusalka with Opera Steamboat, a debut as Dr. Marianus in Mahler’s 8th Symphony with South Dakota Symphony, Tenor Soloist in “Beethoven vs. Coldplay” by Steve Hackman with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Christmas Pops concerts with the Jacksonville Symphony and Louisville Symphony Orchestra, an Operetta Recital with Sarasota Opera, and headliner in The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s Opera Ball.
The 2016-2018 seasons saw Mr. Gulley’s international company debuts with the Staatsoper Hamburg, where he covered Marcello Giordani as Énée in Les Troyens under Maestro Kent Nagano, performing at the Great Pyramids of Egypt in Giza, a company and role debut with Sarasota Opera as Pedro in d’Albert’s Tiefland, his Carnegie Hall debut with The American Symphony as the Tenor Soloist in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, and a 70-date US National Recital Tour presented by Allied Concert Services.
Mr. Gulley is equally at home in the musical theater, having won praise and awards for his turn as Quasimodo in Dennis DeYoung’s Hunchback of Notre Dame (Skylight Musical Theater, 2022). Dan in Next To Normal (MTH, 2016), Jack in Into The Woods (MTH, 2010), and originating Disney’s stage version of the evil puppeteer, Stromboli, in Stephen Schwartz’s Gepetto and Son (now My Son Pinocchio, Coterie Theater).
As a contemporary crossover artist, 2016 marked the commercial release of Mr. Gulley’s debut solo album of original music, In Between, which is available on every major music distribution and streaming service. From 2010 through 2014, Mr. Gulley was also a member of the Sony/BMG Masterworks recording and global touring group The American Tenors, alongside fellow tenors Nathan Granner and Daniel Montenegro and produced by creator and producer of The Irish Tenors, Frank McNamara. Mr. Gulley was also featured twice on the nationally-televised PBS Memorial Day event “Celebration At The Station” with the Kansas City Symphony and Maestro Michael Stern.
GRAMMY winner and Author Jay Hunter Morris first stepped into the national spotlight when he created the role of Tony in Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-winning play Master Class on Broadway in 1995. And then, as documented in Susan Froemke’s Wagner’s Dream, he made shockwaves throughout the opera world in 2011 after stepping in at the eleventh hour to sing the title role in Siegfried at The Metropolitan Opera as part of their new production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, directed by Robert Lepage. That production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide and earned a GRAMMY award for Best Opera Recording.
Firmly established as one of the world’s leading heldentenors, Jay went on to sing Siegfried in Budapest at the Wagner Days Festival, and again with Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera(with Sir Donald Runnicles conducting). Ensuing successes included his first Tristan in Valencia (under the baton of Zubin Mehta), and Schoenberg’s Guerre-Lieder at the Vienna Konzerthaus with Kent Nagano. His portrayal of Teague in Higdon’s Cold Mountain has also earned him an additional two GRAMMY nominations, and he has created roles in eight world premiere operas.
Other notable roles and appearances for Mr. Morris have included a PBS Great Performances broadcast of Ahab in Moby Dick (a role that he also repeated with both Dallas Opera and LA Opera); performances of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony (at Carnegie Hall), and in Rome with the composer conducting; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Taiwan Philharmonic; Tristan under the direction of Mariusz Treliński in Beijing; Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with the Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera and Atlanta Opera, and Aegisth in Elektra with The Metropolitan Opera. Most recently, he was seen as Macheath in Atlanta Opera’s production of The Threepenny Opera (2021) and a role that has become his calling card—Herod in Strauss’ Salome—at Bard Conservatory’s Fisher Center (2022) and with Tulsa Opera (2022).
American tenor Christopher Oglesby made his San Francisco Opera debut as an Adler Fellow during the 2018-2019 season as Dancaïre in Carmen, later singing Benvolio in Roméo et Juliette, Edmondo in Manon Lescaut, Jaquino in Fidelio, and covering Ferrando in Così fan tutte during his subsequent years as an Adler Fellow (2020, 2021).
During the 2021-2022 season, Oglesby’s continued assignments with San Francisco Opera included a cover of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra and performances as First Commissioner in Dialogues des Carmélites.
As a Resident Artist with Utah Opera during the 2017-2018 season, Oglesby sang Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette and was the tenor soloist for Handel’s Messiah with the Utah Symphony. As a participant of the 2018 Merola Opera Program, he debuted as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress.
An active soloist and recitalist, Oglesby has performed for the SF Film Festival, Dallas Puccini Society, Vallejo Festival Orchestra, and in the Schwabacher Recital Series at San Francisco Opera. Oglesby is a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant.
Most recently, Christopher made his role and company debut with Sarasota Opera as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly during the 2022-2023 season, and a role and company debut with West Edge Opera as Boris in Kát’a Kabanová in 2021.
Forthcoming seasons will include mainstage debuts as Rodolfo in La bohème and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Tenor John Pickle is an established and versatile force on both the operatic and concert stages. His unique vocal quality lends itself to a wide variety of repertoire in the tenor catalogue. Remarking on a recent performance of Don José in Carmen with Toledo Opera, the Toledo Blade wrote “Pickle’s ability to crank out a high Bb’s pianissimo is the stuff of which Metropolitan dreams are made. His third act tribute to his dying mother is artistically moving to the point of drawing tears,” and Opera News noted of a production of Die Fledermaus with Florentine Opera that “John Pickle possibly won the vocal laurels as Alfred, but then Alfred gets to show off the most. Pickle’s gleaming tenor registered charmingly in his interpolated snatches of various arias…”
The 2023-2024 season brings performances of Calaf in Turandot with Opera Delaware, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Akron Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem with Canton Symphony, and concerts with Cleveland Pops and Pittsburgh Festival Opera.
During the 2022-2023 season, Pickle performed Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opera Colorado, Don José in Carmen with Pacific Opera Victoria, and a concert of opera’s greatest hits with Maryland Opera. The 2021-2022 season included appearances as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Don José in Carmen with Painted Sky Opera, soloist in concert with the Bel Canto Center for the Performing Arts, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Canton Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart’s Requiem with Pacific Symphony.
Additional recent engagements include Canio in Pagliacci with Opera Colorado, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Memphis, Dayton Opera, and Opera Delaware; Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Los Angeles Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Lyric Opera Kansas City, Mobile Opera, and Utah Festival Opera; Cavardossi in Tosca with Nashville Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Opera Southwest, Tri-Cities Opera, and Townsend Opera; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Pacific Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, and Dayton Opera; Don José in Carmen with Opera Tampa, Nevada Opera, and Opera Louisianne; Pollione in Norma with Lyric Opera Chicago (cv), and Opera Southwest; Radamés in Aïda with Dayton Opera; Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera with Opera Tampa; Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opera Delaware; Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut and Calaf in Turandot with Mobile Opera; Manrico in Il trovatore with Intermountain Opera Bozeman; Judge Danforth in The Crucible with Utah Festival Opera, and Rodolfo in La bohème with Colorado Symphony, Opera Southwest, Nevada Opera, and Baltimore Concert Opera. Of a particular performance as Rodolfo, one critic raved: “John Pickle brings a resilient, wonderfully placed sound and a sensitive musicality to Rodolfo that embraces each nuance of this rich score with an enviable mix of delicacy and strength.”
Mr. Pickle has also excelled in concert appearances throughout the country. He made his Houston Symphony debut under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach as the tenor soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, of which Culture Map Houston declared, “As for the men, tenor John Pickle’s lyrical dominance reverberated courtesy of his clear musical vision and intensifying pacing.”
Concert engagements in recent seasons have included Verdi’s Requiem with Dayton Philharmonic, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Opera Grand Rapids, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and DCINY in Carnegie Hall and Barcelona’s famed Palau de la Música Catalana; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Dayton Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony, The Orchestra Now, Lima Symphony, Long Bay Symphony, and National Chorale; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Dayton Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Utah Festival Opera; Kodaly’s Te Deum with Oregon Music Festival, Eugene Suchon’s Psalm of the Carpathian Land with Sonomento and Kenwood Symphonies; and operatic greatest hits concerts with Florentine Opera, Santa Barbara Symphony, Lyric Opera of Virginia, Northwest Arkansas Symphony, Mobile Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Opera Idaho and the Boise Philharmonic, and St. Bart’s Music Festival.
Pickle made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2008, performing Schubert’s Mass in G Major and Mozart’s Requiem conducted by John Rutter, and also performed Mozart’s Requiem in that famed hall again in 2012. Additionally, he performed Beethoven’s Mass in C Major with New Jersey Choral Society, Gabriello and Un Cantore in Giordano’s rarely performed La cena delle beffe with Teatro Grattacielo in Alice Tully Hall, and Victor Herbert’s 150th Birthday Celebration with Little Orchestra Society.
Praised for his “big, heroic voice” (LA Weekly) and “powerful emotions,” tenor Dane Suarez (he/him) has developed an exciting and varied career. Last season, Mr. Suarez made his Off-Broadway debut in Kate Tarker‘s world premiere play Montag at Soho Rep and joined OperaDelaware, The Carolina Philharmonic, Heartbeat Opera, Penn Square Opera, and Maryland Opera for concert and gala performances. He also returned to New Jersey Festival Orchestra to sing Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), covered Apollo (Strauss’s Daphne) with American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, sang Luigi (Il tabarro) with On Site Opera, and sang Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana) with Lyric Opera of the North.
Upcoming performances include a reprise of Don José in Carmen with Festival Opera, Il Duca (Rigoletto) with OperaDelaware (debut) and Opera Baltimore, Scalia (Scalia/Ginsburg) with Anchorage Opera (debut), Don José in La tragédie de Carmen with Newport Classical, and Canio in his return to Opera Birmingham. With Penn Square Music Festival, he performs excerpts from Carmen, Cavalleria rusticana, and Tosca, with Maryland Opera he performs excerpts from Werther and Les contes d’Hoffmann, and he covers Calaf at OperaDelaware. He will also be heard in concert with The Phoenix Symphony as tenor soloist for both a Holiday Pops concert and Handel’s Mesías (Messiahin Spanish).
Mr. Suarez’s 2021-2022 season included a return to Opera Memphis starring as the tortured Canio in a new production of Pagliacci; his debut as Manrico (Il trovatore) and a jump-in as Lensky (Eugene Onegin) with Opera in the Heights; a reprisal of Scalia (Scalia/Ginsburg) with both Penn Square Music Festival and Opera in the Heights, company debuts as Rodolfo with Opera Birmingham and Newport Classical, and his role and company debuts as Pollione in Norma with Festival Opera. He was also seen in concert for a recital with wife Kerriann Otaño for Il Cenacolo Club of San Francisco, a debut with New Jersey Festival Orchestra for The Three Holiday Tenors, a return to Maryland Opera for a live-streamed concert entitled Variant Valentine, and a return to his alma mater (Butler University) as guest tenor soloist for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.
In the winter of 2020, Mr. Suarez returned to West Bay Opera to perform the role of Macduff in their production of Macbeth. For the remainder of the 2020 season, he was scheduled to reprise the role of Rodolfo in La bohème with Fort Worth Opera (COVID19), perform the title role in Faust with Opera Neo (COVID19) and make his role debut as Manrico in Il trovatore with Opera in the Heights (COVID19). In the summer of 2020, Mr. Suarez performed the role of First Armored Man in Opera Neo‘s innovative digital production of The Magic Flute. During the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Suarez debuted with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for their holiday concert, returned to Opera Memphis as Scalia in Derrick Wang’s acclaimed Scalia/Ginsburg, returned to Maryland Opera for a live-streamed concert, and was scheduled to perform the role of Don José in Carmen with Festival Opera (the aforementioned production postponed to 2023).
Mr. Suarez’s 2019 season included his role and house debut as Fenton in Falstaff with West Bay Opera, a return to Opera Neo to perform the role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin (where he was hailed by critics as “a vocal tour de force of surpassing splendor,”) a return to Opera San José as Greenhorn in Moby-Dick, reprising the role of Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Baltimore Concert Opera, and his mainstage debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera San José.
In 2018, Mr. Suarez reprised the roles of Don José in Carmen and Rodolfo in La bohème AKA “The Hipsters” with Pacific Opera Project, where the Act I duet was described as “a transfixing moment of sublime beauty.” He sang the title role in Idomeneo with Opera Neo and joined Opera San José as a Resident Artist in 2017, where his role responsibilities included Ruggero in La rondine, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Alfredo in La traviata, and Canio in Pagliacci. During the 2016-17 season, Mr. Suarez made his New York City Opera debut in his “completely winning” performance as Joe in La fanciulla del West, Rodolfo in his debut with Pacific Opera Project, and was a Studio Artist with Sarasota Opera, where he covered Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and performed Flaminio in L’amore dei tre re. (Suarez was subsequently granted the Mandelker Award for Outstanding Studio Artist). He returned to Fort Worth Opera for their 2017 Frontiers Showcase, and to Opera Memphis for 30 Days of Opera. Mr. Suarez was pictured on the front page of The Arts section of The New York Times and lauded for his “beautiful, soaring, and moving” performance as Cavaradossi in LoftOpera’s production of Tosca that “brought down the house.”
Mr. Suarez made his John F. Kennedy Center debut in 2015 with Washington National Opera as Ely Parker in Philip Glass’s Appomattox. Other past credits include joining Opera Memphis as Don José in La tragédie de Carmen and Beppe in Pagliacci, a run with Crested Butte Music Festival as Rodolfo, his role debut as Il Duca in Rigoletto at Opera in the Heights, his Fort Worth Opera debut as Marcellus in Thomas’s Hamlet, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mr. Splinters in The Tender Land, and Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor (all with Opera North), his debut as Don José as well as a turn as Shuisky alongside Eric Owens in the Coronation Scene from Boris Godunov with Aspen Music Festival, and Henrik in A Little Night Music at the late Loren Maazel‘s Castleton Festival.
Mr. Suarez was a 2014 National Semi-Finalist of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has been recognized and awarded by multiple organizations including: Tri-Cities Opera TCO NEXT Competition, The Loren L. Zachary Society for the Performing Arts, Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition, Sarasota Opera, Brava! Opera Theater Vocal Competition, The Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition, Beethoven Club of Memphis, Bel Canto Foundation, and Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc.
Mr. Suarez holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Butler University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The artist’s website can be seen at danesuarez.com.
