Jack Swanson

Jack Swanson (born March 29, 1992) who specializes in bel canto roles in operas by composers such as Rossini and Donizetti. He has appeared at major international opera houses, including New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Early life and training Swanson was born on March 29, 1992, in Stillwater, Minnesota. He graduated from Stillwater Area High School in 2010. performing Tobias Ragg in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and the title role in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring.

He continued his studies at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, receiving a Master of Music in May 2016. and A Peasant in Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment in 2015. He also won first place in the Scholarship Division of the 2015 National Opera Association Vocal Competition.

Career Swanson made his major stage debut in the 2015–2016 season with the Des Moines Metro Opera as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. He also sang with Opera Fort Collins as Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola.

In the 2016–2017 season he appeared with Winter Opera Saint Louis as Camille in Lehar's The Merry Widow, with Opera Memphis as Frederic in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, with Opera Delaware as Ramiro in La Cenerentola, and with England's Garsington Opera as Albazar in Rossini's Il turco in Italia.

In January 2018, he first sang the title role of Leonard Bernstein's Candide in his debut with the Los Angeles Opera. James Conlon conducted, and Erin Morley sang Cunegonde. Swanson has gone on to sing the role on stage for the Atlanta Opera, and in concert at Opéra de Marseille, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the Lausitz Festival with the Hamburg Symphony.

In July of 2018 Swanson made his main-stage debut with the Santa Fe Opera in the role of Lindoro in Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers. Arya Roshanian, writing in the British magazine Opera, noted "newcomer Jack Swanson sang Lindoro's unrelenting music with apparent ease and is surely a name to watch in this repertoire."

During the 2018–2019 season, Swanson made his house debut with the Norwegian Opera as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (November–January), his Latin American debut at Theatro Municipal de São Paulo as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia (February), his role and house debut at Palm Beach Opera as Alfred in Offenbach's Die Fledermaus (March), his role and house debut at the Cologne Opera as Sam Kaplan in Kurt Weill's Street Scene (May), and his house debut with the Portland Opera as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia (June).

In July 2019 he performed Young Bastianello in John Musto's one-act comic opera Bastianello at the Festival Napa Valley. his role debut as Belmonte in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio with Opera Omaha at the Orpheum Theatre (February). Canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic were engagements to sing the title role in the world premiere of Paola Prestini's opera Edward Tulane at the Minnesota Opera (March), Cody in Philidor's The Blacksmith with Opera Lafayette (May), and Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Santa Fe Opera (summer 2020). Further performances resumed in early April, when he sang as tenor soloist in Rossini's Stabat Mater with conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He then appeared with the Cologne Opera as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia (May) and with Garsington Opera in his debut in the title role of Rossini's Le comte Ory (May–July) and as The Italian Singer in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (June–July). and sang in the festival's Rossini Gala on August 22.

On December 4, 2021, he gave a recital as part of the Beirut Chants festival in Lebanon and in the latter part of December, made his role debut as Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Opéra national de Lorraine. From January to March, 2022, he sang for the first time Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte with the Frankfurt Opera, and in April and May, repeated the role with Opéra national du Rhin.

In August 2024 he appeared as Almaviva at the Rossini Opera Festival in a production that was presented in the large Vitrifrigo Arena. George Hall, writing in Opera, noted his voice was a bit light for such a large venue. Laura Servidei of Bachtrack, while agreeing that Swanson's "light, high tenor ... at times seemed weak for the role", also noted that his performance of the often-cut final rondo, 'Cessa di più resistere', was "remarkable".

He made his Metropolitan Opera debut on May 16, 2025, as Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. The performance of May 31 was telecast internationally as part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series.

Personal life Swanson is married to soprano Katherine Henly, whom he met at LA Opera during a production of Candide. They have a son (born November 2024) and live in Twin Cities, Minnesota.