American tenor William Burden has won an outstanding reputation in a wide-ranging repertoire throughout Europe and North America.
He has appeared in many prestigious opera houses in the United States and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, New Orleans Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Thèâtre du Châtelet, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berliner Staatsoper, Madrid’s Teatro Real and the Saito Kinen Festival. His many roles include the title roles of
Faust, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Rake’s Progress, Roméo et Juliette, Béatrice and Bénédict, Candide, and
Acis and Galatea; Captain Vere in
Billy Budd, Aschenbach in
Death in Venice, Don Jose in
Carmen, Pylade in
Iphigénie en Tauride, Gerald in
Lakmé, Edgardo in
Lucia di Lammermoor, Nemorino in
L’elisir d’amore, Nerone in
L’incoronazione di Poppea, Ferrando in
Cosí fan tutte, Narraboth in
Salome, and Lensky in
Eugene Onegin. He also appeared in the US premiere of Henze’s
Phaedra at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and created the roles of Gilbert Griffiths in Picker’s
An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera and Dodge in Daron Hagen’s
Amelia at the Seattle Opera. ...
read full bioAmerican tenor William Burden has won an outstanding reputation in a wide-ranging repertoire throughout Europe and North America.
He has appeared in many prestigious opera houses in the United States and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, New Orleans Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Thèâtre du Châtelet, Bayerische Staatsoper, Berliner Staatsoper, Madrid’s Teatro Real and the Saito Kinen Festival. His many roles include the title roles of
Faust, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Rake’s Progress, Roméo et Juliette, Béatrice and Bénédict, Candide, and
Acis and Galatea; Captain Vere in
Billy Budd, Aschenbach in
Death in Venice, Don Jose in
Carmen, Pylade in
Iphigénie en Tauride, Gerald in
Lakmé, Edgardo in
Lucia di Lammermoor, Nemorino in
L’elisir d’amore, Nerone in
L’incoronazione di Poppea, Ferrando in
Cosí fan tutte, Narraboth in
Salome, and Lensky in
Eugene Onegin. He also appeared in the US premiere of Henze’s
Phaedra at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and created the roles of Gilbert Griffiths in Picker’s
An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera and Dodge in Daron Hagen’s
Amelia at the Seattle Opera.
In concert, Mr. Burden has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and with Les Arts Florissants at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Barcelona and Lyon. He recently made his Edinburgh Festival debut as the title role in
Judas Maccabeus, conducted by William Christie.
Mr. Burden’s recordings include Barber’s
Vanessa (Anatol) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the Chandos label and
Musique adorable: The Songs of Emmanuel Chabrier for the Hyperion label.
The season Mr. Burden made his debuts at the Canadian Opera Company as Jupiter in
Semele and the San Francisco Symphony in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and returned to the Seattle Opera as the title role in
Orphée et Euriydice. He also appears in two world premieres: Christopher Theonidis’
Heart of a Soldier at the San Francisco Opera and Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning
Silent Night at the Minnesota Opera. This summer he returns to the Santa Fe Opera as the Shepherd in
King Roger, and next season he returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the new production of Thomas Adés’
The Tempest, the Opera Company of Philadelphia for
Silent Night, and the San Francisco Opera as Peter in the world premiere of Mark Adamo’s
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.
Raised in Florida, Mr. Burden received his master’s degree in Vocal Performance at Indiana University. He was also a member of the Merola Program in San Francisco and at the Apprentice Artists Program at the Santa Fe Opera.
Last updated April 2012. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
