“Musicality like John Holiday’s can’t be taught. When he sings, the sheet music’s bar lines and notations fall away, and he sets the music free,” writes The New York Times. A distinctive and versatile artist, praised as “one of the finest countertenors of his generation” (Los Angeles Times) and for singing that is “arrestingly powerful, secure and dramatically high” (The Wall Street Journal), John Holiday moves fluidly between Baroque repertoire, contemporary opera, and American song with technical assurance, stylistic authority, and remarkable storytelling ability. His unique artistry and personal story have been the subject of national profiles in The New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN’s Great Big Story, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
Equally at home on the opera and concert stage, Holiday has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies, and festivals. His performances have taken him to major venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican Centre, and the Philharmonie de Paris. He has appeared with ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and The English Concert. On the opera stage, his vast range of roles has brought him to top houses including LA Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Boston Lyric Opera, and many more. Highlights include the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice at LA Opera, the world premiere of Daniel Bernard Roumain’s We Shall Not Be Moved with Opera Philadelphia and Dutch National Opera, the title role in Akhnaten at Komische Oper Berlin and LA Opera, the title role in Xerxes at The Glimmerglass Festival, and Caesar in Giulio Cesare at Wolf Trap Opera.
Holiday’s debut album, Over My Head – a deeply personal collection uniting spirituals, contemporary works, and art song, including world premiere recordings by Theo Morrison and Carlos Simon – was released in summer 2026 on the PENTATONE label. Gramophone described his voice as “a thrilling one: bags of power right across a wide range,” and Pizzicato wrote that “John Holiday must undoubtedly be counted among the great countertenors of our time.”
Holiday’s 2026-27 season opens with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Lina González-Granados in the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s The After Party!, written for him, followed by the work’s Dutch premiere in December on a Netherlands tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta led by Candida Thompson. He brings Over My Head to recital stages including the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, North Carolina, and Wigmore Hall in London, where he is joined by pianist Kevin Miller. On the opera stage, Holiday sings three productions directed by Barrie Kosky: Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at the Bayerische Staatsoper, the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten at Komische Oper Berlin, and the Fox in the world premiere of Du Yun’s Red Fox at Dutch National Opera.
Holiday’s 2025-26 season included his debut at Washington National Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), alongside major returns to LA Opera in the title role of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten and to the Bayerische Staatsoper in two productions: Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (Prince Orlofsky) and Handel’s Alcina (Ruggiero). On the concert stage, he appeared with the New York Philharmonic in Handel’s Messiah, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Joe Hisaishi’s End of the World, and the Madison Symphony in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. He also curated and led a concert with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra highlighting repertoire from the Great American Songbook. A dedicated recitalist, Holiday appeared in recital at Spivey Hall, Susquehanna University, and with the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. During the summer, he appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis in two programs under Johnathan Taylor Rush, joining vocalists Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele for An American Songbook with John Holiday.
Highlights of Holiday’s 2024-25 season included his debut as Farnace in Mitridate, re di Ponto at Boston Lyric Opera in a production by James Darrah, and his debut in the title role of Akhnaten in a new production by Barrie Kosky at Komische Oper Berlin. He returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Le Grand Macabre and Dido and Aeneas, and toured with The English Concert in Giulio Cesare as Tolomeo, with performances at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Barbican Centre. Additional engagements included appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Apollo Chamber Players in Houston, as well as a solo recital at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. During the summer, Holiday made his debut at the BBC Proms in Hisaishi’s End of the World and performed with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta at the Prinsengracht Concert in Amsterdam.
In the 2023-24 season, Holiday appeared as a featured soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society in Handel’s Messiah, followed by performances of Agrippina with Dutch National Opera in the role of Nerone. He gave recitals at Washington Adventist University and Pensacola Opera, appeared at Jazz at Lincoln Center in an American Songbook program, and joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater under the direction of Jaime Martín. At PACNYC, in conjunction with Trinity Church Wall Street, he was a featured soloist in the premiere of Luna Pearl Woolf’s Oratorio and returned to The Metropolitan Opera to reprise his roles in Kevin Puts’s The Hours. Additional appearances included engagements with Arizona Opera, the University of Michigan, and the Bayerische Staatsoper.
In his 2022-23 season, Holiday was a featured artist with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. He performed the title role in Claire van Kampen’s production of Idaspe, followed by a screening and streaming release of his acclaimed film After/Glow. Holiday also returned to The Metropolitan Opera as the Man Under Arch and Hotel Clerk in the stage premiere of Kevin Puts’s The Hours. He debuted as a featured artist in the world premiere of Caroline Shaw and Jocelyn Clarke’s Four Portraits at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and starred in a production of We Shall Not Be Moved, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner and Kennedy Center Honoree Bill T. Jones.
In addition to his classical work, Holiday has curated The John Holiday Experience, an eclectic recital program spanning classical, pop, jazz, and R&B, which he has presented nationally. He has opened for GRAMMY® Award winner Jason Mraz, performed the national anthem for the Houston Rockets, appeared at the Ozwald Boateng Harlem Runway Show at The Apollo Theater, and performed Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” at The Apollo Theater Spring Gala.
Holiday is the recipient of numerous major awards, including the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award, the Richard Tucker Foundation’s 2014 Sara Tucker Award, first prize at the 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and top honors from the 2012 Sullivan Foundation and 2011 Dallas Opera Guild. In addition, Holiday was selected among WQXR’s prestigious 20 for ‘20 Artists to Watch, named one of BroadwayWorld’s “New York Opera Gifts that Keep on Giving,” nominated for “Newcomer of the Year” by the German magazine Opernwelt, and listed as one of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ 100 honorees for 2018.
Since 2023, John Holiday has served as Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Maryland School of Music. He received a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from The Juilliard School in New York City. Holiday grew up in Rosenberg, Texas, located near Houston, and attended the town’s public schools.
2026-2027
