CAST

Praised by the Washington Post for his voice of “unearthly power,” The Houston Press as a “blow away singer,” and the San Jose Mercury News as a “natural comic actor,” the award-winning bass-baritone Nathan Stark has performed on opera, concert and recital stages throughout United States, Europe, and China.

Mr. Stark has performed over 50 professional roles with opera houses throughout North America, including the Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, Virginia Opera and Opera San José. Some of his noted operatic roles have included Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri, both Don Basilio and Don Bartolo in il Barbiere di Siviglia, both Leporello and il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, both Monterone and Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Colline in La Bohème, Banco in Macbethand Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Stark has performed as a concert soloist with many orchestras, including Boston Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Holland Symphony Orchestra.

Nathan has given recitals throughout the United States and Germany, concerts at the Great Wall of China, the U.S. Colombian Embassy, U.S. French Embassy, U.S. Austrian Embassy and the Washington National Cathedral. In 2005 he was chosen to be the featured soloist for the nationally televised opening ceremonies of the Air Force One exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Library for former First Ladies, Laura Bush and Nancy Reagan, members of the United States Senate and Congress, and then-President, George W. Bush.

Mr. Stark has been a recipient of awards from the 2010 Fort Worth Opera Marguerite McCammon Competition, the Opera Columbus Vocal Competition, the Brentwood Artist of Tomorrow Competition, the Sun Valley Opera Competition, the Westwood Vocal Competition, the Burbank Aria Competition, the Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition, the Pasadena Opera Guild Competition, and the Opera Buffs Competition. He took first place in the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s Corbett Scholarship Opera Competition and the Classical Singers Association Vocal Competition in Los Angeles, and was the 2006 San Diego District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition.

In the 2022/2023 season, he returns to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to cover multiple roles as a weekly artist. Other engagements include appearances with Tulsa Opera as The Narrator/Mysterious Man in Into the Woods, Rochester Symphony Orchestra as Monterone in Rigoletto and Frère Laurent in Romeo et Juliette in a co-production with Valley Opera & Performing Arts and Mission Opera.

Nathan Stark holds degrees in vocal & opera performance from California State University, Long Beach (B.M. & M.M.) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (A.D.) His voice teachers have included Dr. Lewis Woodward, Dr. Cherrie Llewellyn, Ms. Shigemi Matsumoto, Ms. Marilyn Horne and Mr. Kenneth Shaw.