Tenor Eric Ferring, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, graduated magna cum laude from Drake University in 2014 with his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and The Boston Conservatory in 2016 with his Master of Music in Opera Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom.

Currently, Mr. Ferring is a member of the Ensemble of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and will be singing Giuseppe/La traviata, Young Servant/Elektra, and covering Lurcanio/Ariodante (among other roles) in Lyric’s 2018-2019 season.

Previously, Mr. Ferring was a Resident Artist at Pittsburgh for two seasons where he performed Spoletta/Tosca, Basilio/Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro, Ricky/The Long Walk, The Protagonist in the world premiere of Ashes & Snow (now known as Savage Winter) in collaboration with American Opera Projects, Flask/Moby-Dick, Nemorino/The Elixir of Love as well as Gastone/La traviata, Fourth Jew/Salome, and Señor Alcalde in the world premiere of The Summer King. In the summer of 2017, Mr. Ferring was an Apprentice Singer at Santa Fe Opera where he covered Oronte/Alcina and was awarded the Richard Tucker Memorial Scholarship. Mr. Ferring will return to Santa Fe for a major role debut in the summer of 2020.

Heralded by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for being “powerful and direct…while conveying a range of conflicting emotions with distinction and subtlety” and by having a “bold precision to his substantial sound,” Mr. Ferring has been seen at many prestigious summer programs and received a number of awards.

In the 2015-2016 summers, Mr. Ferring was seen at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist performing Parpignol/La bohème, Zahir/Shalimar the Clown (world premiere), as well as covering Scaramuccio/Ariadne auf Naxos and Prunier/La rondine. While at OTSL, Mr. Ferring received a career award from the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Artists given in recognition of his great vocal potential. Mr. Ferring has also been a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera performing Lacouf/Les mamelles de Tirésias and covering Remendado/Carmen.

Mr. Ferring earned his Master of Music in Opera Performance at The Boston Conservatory under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom, where he performed as Alfredo/La traviata, Bill/Flight, Tom Rakewell/The Rake’s Progress and Pylade/Iphigénie en Tauride. He received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Drake University, where he performed as Nanki-Poo/The Mikado, Stage Manager/Our Town, and Nemorino/The Elixir of Love.

Mr. Ferring was a Young Artist at both the Seagle Music Colony and Cedar Rapids Opera and performed numerous roles with both companies. He has also been seen at Lakes Area Music Festival as Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mr. Ferring joined the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in December 2017 as the Tenor Soloist for The Messiah and will return in April 2019 for two performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

A multi-talented artist, Mr. Ferring is also an accomplished conductor, having conducted To Hell and Back, Old Maid and the Thief, A Chorus Line, Sweeney Todd, Anything Goes, and A Little Night Music, as well as assistant conducting productions of Iphigénie en Tauride and Le nozze di Figaro.

Mr. Ferring was a recipient of a 2018 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation and has received a Career Grant from the Sullivan Foundation, Third Prize at the 2017 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, three Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Encouragement Awards, as well as most recently a Regional Encouragement Award from the Great Lakes Region. Mr. Ferring took 2nd Place in the 2014 Hal Leonard Vocal Competition: Art Song Division, was a two-time finalist for the International Crescendo Music Awards, and a winner at the 2013 Central Iowa Symphony and Fort Dodge Symphony Competitions.

Mr. Ferring is managed by Fletcher Artist Management.