On the international stages of opera, concert, and recital, Canadian John Tessier has garnered attention and praise for the beauty and honesty of his voice, for a refined style and creative versatility, and for his handsome, youthful presence in the lyric tenor repertoire. The Juno Award-winning artist has worked with many of the most notable conductors of our day including David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, Plácido Domingo, John Nelson, Franz Welser-Möst, Emmanuelle Haïm, Charles Dutoit, Donald Runnicles, Robert Spano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Bernard Labadie.

In the 2017-18 operatic season, Mr. Tessier returns for a fourth consecutive year to the stage of the Wiener Staatsoper and, this time, reprises his acclaimed portrayal of Tonio in Laurent Pelly’s production of La fille du Régiment. He also joins theEdmonton Opera to sing Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Calgary Opera for Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia. On the concert stage appearances include Messiah with the Colorado Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Rune Bergmann and the Calgary Philharmonic and with the National Arts Centre Orchestra conducted by Alexander Shelly, as well as concert performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Requiem with Krzysztof Urbański and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Last season John Tessier made a role debut as Massenet’s Werther in a new production at Manitoba Opera, appeared at the Wiener Staatsoper in La fille du Régiment, and bowed at Edmonton Opera in a revival of La cenerentola. He also joined Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for semi-staged performances of Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, which were recorded for future commercial release on Decca.

Highlights of recent opera seasons include Bellini’s I Puritani conducted by Marco Armiliato and Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, both at the Wiener Staatsoper; Cherubini’s Médée at the Théâtre des Champs-Élyséesconducted by Christophe Rousset; both Les pêcheurs de perles and Maria Stuardaled by Carlo Montanaro at Seattle Opera and La cenerentola for New Zealand Opera. He has given the world première of Robin de Raaff’s Waiting for Miss Monroe at the Netherlands Opera, and has sung Der fliegende Holländer under the baton of Jeffrey Tate at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He appeared in Don Giovanni for a South American debut at the Teatro Colón with conductor John Neschling, and in The Pearl Fishers with the English National Opera.

Further operatic credits include Salome at the Verbier Festival led by Valery Gergiev, La cenerentola and Così fan tutte at Minnesota Opera, Don Giovanni and Hamlet at Washington National Opera, Lakmé with L’Opéra de Montréal, and a new Jonathan Miller production of The Elixir of Love at both English National Opera and the New York City Opera. Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia has featured prominently in the tenor’s career with performances at English National Opera, New York City Opera, Edmonton Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, L’Opéra de Québec, and in a new Leon Major production at Glimmerglass Opera.

Symphonic engagements include Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Iván Fischer and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust with the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, Mendelssohn’s Elijah both with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Symphony, and Carmina Burana with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony. Other concert appearances feature Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War with Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Berlioz’ Te Deum under the direction of Charles Dutoit at the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Haydn’s The Creation with John Nelson and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. He has sung Mozart’s Requiem with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (recorded and commercially available on Telarc), Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Nicholas McGegan and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Händel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée on tour in Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Milan.