The Scene
People
Jason Ferrante
Opera News praises tenor Jason Ferrante for “singing up a stylish storm” and for getting “the gold star for trills” and the Berkshire Eagle says he “seems to brighten every stage he mounts.”
In the 2017-2018 season, Ferrante creates the role of Little Victor Farrell in the world premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Elizabeth Cree with Opera Philadelphia to open their O17 Festival. He’ll repeat Little Victor for his debut with Chicago Opera Theater, then debut with Nashville Opera as Little Bat in Susannah and at Intermountain Opera as Bardolfo in Falstaff. Ferrante also returns to the Jacksonville Symphony as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Last season, Ferrante debuted with Opera Philadelphia as Don Basilio/Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro in a production filmed for HD telecast in Philadelphia’s “Opera on the Mall” presentation as part of their O17 festival and as Goro in Madama Butterfly with Arizona Opera.
On the international stage, Ferrante made his European debut at Teatro Comunale di Bologna as Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd. The production also appeared at Teatro Pavarotti in Modena, Teatro Rossini in Lugo, and Teatro Municipale in Piacenza. He was the Tenor Ghost in Corigliano’s The Ghosts Of Versailles with the Wexford Festival, and sang Pong in Turandot under the baton of Lorin Maazel in the grand opening of the Zaha Hadid-designed opera house in Guangzhou, China.
Other operatic career highlights include King Ouf in L’etoile at New York City Opera; Tavannes in Les Huguenots and Basile in Le roi malgré lui at Bard Summerscape (both commercially recorded and available on iTunes); Jacquino in Fidelio with Opera Boston; Triquet in Eugene Onegin with North Carolina Opera; Borsa in Rigoletto with Florida Grand Opera and Opera New Jersey; Spoletta in Tosca with Florida Grand Opera, Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro with Atlanta Opera, Eugene Opera, Berkshire Opera, Dayton Opera and the Orlando Philharmonic., the Fourth Jew in Salome with the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras and Palm Beach Opera, Goro in Madama Butterfly with Atlanta Opera, Kentucky Opera, Syracuse Opera, Opera Omaha, Madison Opera, Orlando Opera, Berkshire Opera, Opera Birmingham, and Annapolis Opera; The Magician in The Consul with Opera New Jersey; Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro directed by Sir Thomas Allen, The Magician in The Consul, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, all with Arizona Opera; Peter Quint in The Turn Of The Screw with Sideshow Opera in Charlottesville, VA; Rooster in the musical Annie with Ashlawn Opera; Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette, Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd, and the creation of the role of Cornaccio in the world premiere of Musto’s Volpone, all at Wolf Trap; Bardolfo in Falstaff and Torquemada in L’heure espagnole under the baton of Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood; Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto with Berkshire Opera; Eumete in Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria with the Greenwich Music Festival; Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos and Dr. Cajus in Falstaff, both under the baton of Julius Rudel at the Aspen Music Festival.
On the concert stage, Ferrante has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic, The Tucson Symphony, the Traverse Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen, The Key Chorale of Sarasota and the Juilliard Orchestra in operas in concert and in masterpieces including Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Mass in C, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Bach’s Magnificat.
Ferrante is quickly becoming a sought-out voice teacher. His students sing around the world with opera companies including the Met, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Glimmerglass, and Wolf Trap. He currently serves as a vocal consultant to the young artists programs at Wolf Trap Opera, Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, and Pensacola Opera and is on the faculty of the UBC Summer Vocal Workshop in Vancouver, BC. He is a national panelist and master teacher for YoungArts, the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, which recognizes and supports America’s most talented high school artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts and includes nominating future Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
Ferrante holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School where he held the Alice Tully Voice Scholarship and his professional training includes two summers at Wolf Trap where he was a two-time recipient of a Shouse Grant, three summers at the Aspen Music Festival, and two summers at Tanglewood. His primary vocal studies were with legendary vocal pedagogue Beverley Peck Johnson with additional studies with Rita Shane, Phyllis Curtin and Cynthia Hoffmann.