Irish-American baritone Emmett O’Hanlon’s 2018-2019 season sees his European and role debut as Malatesta in Don Pasquale with the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, his role debut as Silvio in Pagliacci with Opera San Jose, conducted by Christian Reif, and a return to Des Moines Metro Opera to sing Maximillian in Bernstein’s Candide. Mr. O’Hanlon also makes his house debut with the Berkshire Opera Festival as Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Concert work includes his debut with the New World Symphony for Unanswered Questions: A Leonard Bernstein Journey, conducted by Edwin Outwater. As a winner of the 2018 Opera Birmingham vocal competition, Mr. O’Hanlon will be presented in recital at Brock Recital Hall at Samford University. He will also appear in recital with Sun Valley Opera, in Ketchum, Idaho.

The 2017 – 2018 season saw Mr. O’Hanlon’s final season as a member of the Ryan Center with roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago including Wagner in a new production of Faust, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. Mr. O’Hanlon’s cover assignments included Valentin in Faust, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Marullo in Rigoletto.

Mr. O’Hanlon made his debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago as The Second Priest in Die Zauberflöte and Dancaīre in Carmen, where he also covered the roles of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Captain in Yevgeny Onegin. Additional operatic highlights include his debut at Des Moines Metro Opera in a new production of Britten’s Billy Budd singing The Novice’s Friend and covering the title role, as well as covering the title role in Yevgeny Onegin, singing Bartley in Vaughn Williams’ Riders to the Sea, The Traveller in Britten’s Curlew River at the Juilliard School, and the Soldier in a workshop of Scott Wheeler’s The Sorrows of Frederick the Great in partnership with the Metropolitan Opera. As a student at the Juilliard School, Mr. O’Hanlon’s operatic highlights included roles at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music include Arsamene in Xerxes and Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen. Concert repertoire includes Bach cantatas 32, 106, 172 and the Fauré Requiem, all with St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Cincinnati under the baton of Dr. Carlton Monroe.

In addition to his operatic and concert career, Mr. O’Hanlon joined the group Celtic Thunder in 2014, as a featured artist. Highlights of his time with the group include appearances on the 2014 Celtic Cruise, the 2014 Christmas Symphony Tour, and the 2015 Very Best of Tour. He is also featured on both the DVD and CD of Legacy Vol I & II, as well as the re-release of their albums Heartland, The Show, Take Me Home, Heritage, and Voyage I & II.

Honors and awards include being named a finalist in the 2017 Operalia competition, a finalist in the south regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 2nd place in the Verismo Opera competition, 3rd place in the Gerda Lissner Foundation competition, and an encouragement award from the Opera Index competition.

Mr. O’Hanlon holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Additional training includes participation as a Bel Canto young artist at Caramoor Opera, studies at La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, a summer with Oberlin in Italy, and the “Julliard in Paris” project, sponsored by the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation. A native of Manhasset, New York, Mr. O’Hanlon currently resides in Chicago.