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Michael B. O’Halloran, baritone, has performed almost 50 roles domestically and internationally, establishing himself as a versatile and accomplished opera singer. His extensive repertoire includes Marcello and Sharpless in Puccini’s La bohème and Madama Butterfly, Guglielmo and Papageno in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and The Magic Flute, Mercutio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Belcore and Don Annibale in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Il Campanello, Jupiter in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, The Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Mizgir’ in the West Coast premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden, Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Melchior in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Peter in Hansel and Gretel, Dancaïro in Bizet’s Carmen, Lysander in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Ben in Menotti’s The Telephone, the Officer in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Hanezò in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz in Lucca, Italy.
As a noted interpreter of contemporary works, he has performed Manfred in Heggie’s Two Remain, Orphée in Glass’ Orphée, Sweeney in Sturm’s Prelude to an Agon, Vernon in Hoiby’s Summer and Smoke, and made his Carnegie Hall debut as John in De Rosa’s The Yellow Wallpaper. He workshopped the role of Tenorio in Armienta’s Bless Me, Ultima with Opera Southwest, and had the honor of participating in the world premiere recording of Summer and Smoke while at Manhattan School of Music, which was hailed as one of the “Top Ten New Recordings” by Opera News. This summer, he will be seen as Robert in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and will debut as a featured soloist singing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the California Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Equally comfortable on the concert stage, he has performed as a featured soloist with Pacific Symphony, the Aspen Festival Orchestra, the Marina del Rey Symphony, the California Philharmonic, and the Lucca Festival Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he was an artist in residence at the Aspen Music Festival as a winner of the Aspen vocal concerto competition, both an Emerging and Spectrum Resident Artist with Virginia Opera, and holds the honor of being the first American vocalist to be a junger Künstler Bayreuth at the Bayreuther Festspiele in Germany.
Mr. O’Halloran has received first place in the Student Division of the Chicago Bel Canto competition and first place in Division V of the Chicago area chapter National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions. He has participated in master classes with Richard Goode, John Wustman, Frank Corsaro, and Mark Delavan. He holds a Masters in Classical Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and is a student of William Neill.