This season, baritone Michael Todd Simpson returns to the Seattle Opera as Escamillo in Carmen and to the Metropolitan Opera for Khovanshchina. He also makes his debut at the San Francisco Symphony in performances of Handel’s Messiah. He recently sang Escamillo at the both the Glimmerglass Festival and in China, and appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Morales in Carmen and in its production of Don Carlos on tour in Japan.
His many roles include the title role in Don Giovanni, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Silvio in Pagliacci, Escamillo in both Carmen and Le Tragedie de Carmen, Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, Hermann and Schlemil in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance. He also sang the role of Tooley in the American premiere of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur at the Glimmerglass Opera, which was recorded and released by Chandos Records in 2005. He has appeared all over the U.S. in opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Cleveland Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Portland Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, and recently made his debuts at Opera Australia and in China and Taiwan ... read full bio
This season, baritone Michael Todd Simpson returns to the Seattle Opera as Escamillo in Carmen and to the Metropolitan Opera for Khovanshchina. He also makes his debut at the San Francisco Symphony in performances of Handel’s Messiah. He recently sang Escamillo at the both the Glimmerglass Festival and in China, and appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Morales in Carmen and in its production of Don Carlos on tour in Japan.
His many roles include the title role in Don Giovanni, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Silvio in Pagliacci, Escamillo in both Carmen and Le Tragedie de Carmen, Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, Hermann and Schlemil in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance. He also sang the role of Tooley in the American premiere of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur at the Glimmerglass Opera, which was recorded and released by Chandos Records in 2005. He has appeared all over the U.S. in opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Cleveland Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Portland Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, and recently made his debuts at Opera Australia and in China and Taiwan.
A native of Gastonia, NC, Mr. Simpson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in vocal performance from Erskine College in Due West, SC, and earned his Masters of Music degree at the College Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. He is also a graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program. His many awards include regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Spanish Prize in the 2007 José Iturbi International Music Competition, first prize in the first annual Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition, the Sara Tucker Study Grant awarded by the Richard Tucker Foundation and the Richard F. Gold Career Grant, and first place winner of the 1996 and 1999 South Carolina National Association of Teachers of Singing vocal competition.
Last updated August 2011. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
