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Eric Fennell
German American tenor, Eric Fennell has firmly established himself as one of today’s leading international artists. His debut came when he jumped in to James Robinson’s production of La Bohème as Rodolfo for two performances at Glimmerglass Opera. This led him to New York City where he sang roles in the next six seasons for New York City Opera including Rodolfo in La Bohème, Alfredo in La Traviata, Narraboth in Salomé, and Telemaco in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. In 2009, he made made his European debut singing Camille de Rosillion in Die Lustige Witwe for Deutsche Oper am Rhine and Verdi’s Requiem for the Latvian National Symphony.
Eric Fennell’s operatic highlights include Rodolfo in La Bohème for Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Deutsches National Theater Mannheim, Manitoba Opera, Edmonton Opera, and Opera Saratoga; Werther in Werther for Staatstheater Braunschweig and Opera Zuid (Netherlands); Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann for Teatro San Carlo (Napoli), Hawaii Opera Theater, Theater Augsburg, Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach, Staatstheater Mainz, and Deutsches National Theater Weimar; Duca di Mantua in Rigoletto for Deutsche Oper Berlin, The Prague National Theater, Slovak National Theater, and Theater Bremen; Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire for Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires); Don José in Carmen for Arizona Opera, Opera en plain air (Paris), Theater Lübeck, Pacific Opera Victoria, and the St. Margarethen Festspiele; Romeo in Romeo et Juliette for the Greek National Opera, Slovenian National Opera, Toledo Opera, Theater Aachen, Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin; Faust in Faust for Wroclaw Opera; Alfredo in La Traviata for the Slovak National Theater and New York City Opera; Gerald in Lakmé for Sarasota Opera and Teatro Principal de Palma de Mallorca; Dorian in the world premiere of Lubica Cekovska’s Dorian Gray for the Slovak National Theater; Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Sarasota Opera, Wichita Grand Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera; Roberto in Roberto Devereux for Dallas Opera; Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera for Theater Pforzheim; Don Carlo in Don Carlo for the Lithuanian National Opera; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Utah Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, and Opera Saratoga; Roberto in Le Villi for the Latvian National Opera; The Prince in John Adams’ A Flowering Tree for Göteborgsoperan; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for Des Moines Metro Opera; Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi for the Macau International Music Festival; and Des Grieux in Manon for the Moldavian National Opera. Mr. Fennell has also appeared with the San Francisco Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington Concert Opera, Tulsa Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera, Salzburg Landestheater, Festival de Opera de Tenerife, Arena di Verona, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, and the Spoleto Festival USA.
Also a distinguished concert performer, Mr. Fennell’s concert appearances include the tenor solos in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, Tokyo City Orchestra, Cairo Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and the Allentown Symphony; Verdi’s Requiem for the Latvian National Symphony, The Paul Hill Chorale, and in recording with the Smith College Orchestra; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis for Konzertchor Darmstadt; Händel’s Messiah for the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, Virginia Symphony, Allentown Symphony, and Tucson Symphony; Rossini’s Stabat Mater for Brandenburg Philharmonic; Mozart’s Requiem for Arena di Verona, the New Haven Symphony, and the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall; Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with the Eugene Concert Choir; and William Maselli’s JFK Requiem at Carnegie Hall.
Born in Pennsylvania, Eric’s first passion was ice hockey which started at age 7. He played for the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers through high school, and captained his team at Gettysburg College while earning his B.A. in music. He continued his music education with a Masters in Music from Boston University where he also completed a Professional Studies diploma as a member of the Opera Institute at Boston University. Since 2010, Mr. Fennell has been a resident of Berlin, Germany.