|
Opera News praises Two Time 2009 Grammy Award Winner spiel tenor John Easterlin for his “handsome stage presence and muscular, soaring voice” as well as his “melting tones that were sensitively shaded” and declares him “A master comic to boot, his antics and disguises left the audience roaring with laughter. A fresh, exciting performance indeed!” In addition, USA Today's Robert Bianco lauded praise on him when he wrote, "Like cream rising to the top, the evening’s star rested in the stunning, thrilling voice of Metropolitan Opera tenor John Easterlin. Never before has this critic seen or heard an audience so still and attentive to a performer. As everyone around me, I was reduced to tears listening to his sterling, world class performance."
For the 2009-10 season, Mr. Easterlin returns to the Metropolitan Opera for his sixth season with the company as the Young Servant in Elektra; returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for his ninth production with the company, as Spoletta in Tosca opposite Deborah Voigt, Sir Andrew Davis conducting the season-opening new production; and returns to the Opéra National de Paris (Bastille) as Squeak in a new production of Billy Budd. In addition, he makes his highly anticipated Vienna State Opera debut as Herod in Salome and his debut at the internationally renowned Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Prince Nilsky in a new production of The Gambler, to be recorded by Deutsche Gramophone. Additional concert engagements include a fourth return, by popular demand, to New York's famed Town Hall in Broadway Unplugged, produced by Scott Siegel, and as Tenor Soloist in The Messiah with the Queens Oratorio Society and Orchestra, his seventh appearance with the company, and as Guest Soloist with the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra in his tenth appearance at the St. John's University Christmas Concert. Mr. Easterlin's discography expands with three international radio broadcasts: Metropolitan Opera's production of Elektra; Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Tosca; the Royal Opera House Covent Garden production of The Gambler; and the Opéra National de Paris' (Bastille) production of Billy Budd.
Upcoming seasons find Mr. Easterlin in his debut at the Teatro Real, Madrid and the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; as well as returning to the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, and the Los Angeles Opera.
In the 2008-9 season, Mr. Easterlin returned to the Metropolitan Opera for his fifth season with the company as the Fourth Jew in Salome, starring Karita Mattila, the role which marked his Met debut in 2004; returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for his eighth production with the company, Lulu, Sir Andrew Davis conducting Paul Curran's highly anticipated new production; and returned to the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Pong in a new production of Turandot, his third production with the company. In addition, he made his critically-acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut as Bomelius in Rimsky-Korsakov's rarely heard The Tsar's Bride, under the baton of Eve Queler with the Opera Orchestra of New York; and his debut at the prestigious Glimmerglass Festival as The Magician in a new production of The Consul, in which he presented over three dozen magical illusions. Additional concert engagements included a third return, by popular demand to New York's famed Town Hall in an evening produced by Broadway's renowned Scott Siegel and as Tenor Soloist in The Messiah with the Queens Oratorio Society and Orchestra, his sixth appearance with the company. Mr. Easterlin's discography expanded with three international radio broadcasts: Metropolitan Opera's production of Salome, opposite Karita Mattila; Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, opposite Deborah Voigt and Christine Brewer; and the Opéra National de Paris' (Bastille) production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, opposite Christine Brewer and Franz Hawlata. Additionally, Mr. Easterlin was seen on October 11, 2008 in Salome, in a live broadcast via satellite into movie theaters across the United States. The 2009 Grammy Award winning [2009 Opera Recording of the Year; 2009 Classical Album of the Year] PBS broadcast of LAO's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with Mr. Easterlin in his critically acclaimed role as Jack O'Brien, recently received a 2008 Peabody Award and a 2008 Emmy Award.
For the 2007-8 season, Mr. Easterlin returned for his fourth season with the Metropolitan Opera as Prince Nilsky in The Gambler, under the baton of Valery Gergiev; to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for his seventh production with the company, under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, as the Hunchback Brother in their new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, starring Deborah Voigt and Christine Brewer; and, by popular demand, a return engagement to The Town Hall in New York City. In addition, he debuted with Opera Pacific in Costa Mesa, California as Little Bat in a new production of Susannah, starring Pamela Armstrong, made his debut on an international telecast of The Hour of Power from the renowned Crystal Cathedral, and made his European operatic debut at the Opéra National de Paris (Bastille) as the Hunchback Brother in Robert Wilson's acclaimed production of Die Frau ohne Schatten. Mr. Easterlin's discography expanded with three radio broadcasts: Lyric Opera of Chicago's Salome, opposite Deborah Voigt; the Los Angeles Opera's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, opposite Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald and Anthony Dean Griffey; and the Metropolitan Opera production of Prokofiev's The Gambler, broadcast live from the Met in April 2008. In December 2007, LAO's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny aired on PBS Great Performances, followed by a worldwide DVD release of the production on the Euroarts label. The season concluded with Mr. Easterlin's prestigious Induction as a National Arts Associate into the Music Sorority Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI) in Toledo, Ohio.
In the 2006-7 season, Mr. Easterlin returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as the Fourth Jew in Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed new production of Salome, starring Deborah Voigt and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis; debuted with the Los Angeles Opera, under the baton of James Conlon, as Jack O’Brien in John Doyle’s critically hailed new production of Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and debuted in Tel Aviv with the New Israeli Opera, under the baton of Asher Fisch, as Brighella in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Concert engagements included his critically acclaimed and hailed debut at New York's famed Town Hall in A Night at the Operetta, produced by Broadway veteran, Scott Siegel.
His engagements in the 2005-06 season included his San Francisco Opera debut as Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro opposite Ruth Ann Swenson and Peter Mattei; his return to the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro; a critically aclaimed debut as Alfred in Die Fledermaus with the Dayton Opera; Goro in Madama Butterfly in his Toledo Opera debut; and a critically aclaimed debut as Mayor Upfold in the anticipated new production of Albert Herring with New York's famed Gotham Chamber Opera. Concert engagements this season included a return to the New Choral Society as Tenor Soloist in The Messiah.
The 2004-05 season included his return to the Metropolitan Opera as the Major-Domo in Der Rosenkavalier starring Susan Graham; a debut with the Opera Company of Philadelphia as Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus; a debut as Triquet in Eugene Onegin with Tulsa Opera; a critically hailed debut as Tobias in Sweeney Todd with the Princeton Festival; and returns to both Dallas Opera as Remendado in Carmen and the Todi Music Festival in Virginia, as Sir Arturo Bucklaw in Lucia di Lammermoor and the debut of his critically-acclaimed and sold-out recital debut: What a Character! The Many Faces of John Easterlin. His concert engagements included a debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall as Trinca in Giordano’s La Cena della Beffe with Teatro Grattacielo and as Tenor Soloist in The Messiah with the New Choral Society.
Having performed with America’s foremost houses, Mr. Easterlin’s debut with the Metropolitan Opera came in the 2003-04 season as the Fourth Jew in their internationally-acclaimed new production of Salome, starring Karita Mattila and taped for PBS Great Performances. His non-stop season included Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera; Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis; a critically-hailed debut with the Utah Opera as the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel, and a debut with New Jersey's Boheme Opera as Almaviva in Il Barbieri di Siviglia.
As one of the pre-eminent spiel tenors of our time, he has sung Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte with the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Jacquino in Fidelio with the Seattle Opera; the Fourth Jew in Salome in his debut with the New York City Opera; and his first appearances with the Dallas Opera as Pang in Turandot and Attalo in Ermione.
A frequent guest at the nation’s festivals, his appearances include his internationally-acclaimed Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos with Spoleto Festival U.S.A, under the baton of Emmanuel Villaume; the Captain in Wozzeck, Pong in Turandot, Triquet in Eugene Onegin, and Monostatos in The Magic Flute with the Opera Festival of New Jersey; Benjamin Kidd in The Desert Song and Monostatos in The Magic Flute with the Utah Festival Opera; and Edmondo, Il Maestro di Ballo, and Un Lampionaio in Manon Lescaut with the Todi Music Festival.
On international stages, Mr. Easterlin joined the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan for performances of Wozzeck conducted by Seiji Ozawa and starring Matteus Goerne, and has sung Pedrillo in Die Enführung aus dem Serail with Opéra de Québec, under the baton of Bernard Labadie, for which he received Canada's highly prestigious Dora Maver Moore Award, a first for an opera singer.
An active concert performer as well, Mr. Easterlin made his Ravinia Festival debut with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Don Curzio in an all-star concert version of Le Nozze di Figaro, for the Opening Night of their Centennial Season. He has also appeared at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra in a Broadway star-filled salute to Stephen Sondheim, telecast on PBS, and with such noted conductors as Sir Andrew Davis, James Conlon, Valery Gergiev, Asher Fisch, Bernard Labadie, Emmauel Villaume, Yves Abel, Graeme Jenkins, David Agler, Donald Runnicles, Gerard Schwarz, George Manahan, and Corrado Rovaris.
Renowned for his crossover and musical theatre activities as well as those on opera and symphonic stages, Mr. Easterlin has been seen on Broadway in the Tony Award winning revival of Chicago in the countertenor role of Mary Sunshine, as well as creating the role of Ari Leschnekoff in the new musical, Band in Berlin, based on the life of the famed Comedian Harmonists, starring the acclaimed vocal quintet, Hudson Shad.
He starred in the First National Touring Company production of Chicago as Mary Sunshine, opposite Jasmine Guy, Obba Babatunde and Charlotte D'Amboise, for which he received Washington D.C.'s Helen Hayes Award, Chicago's Jefferson Award, Canada’s Dora Maver Moore Award, and the Boston Theatre Circle Critics Award. In addition, he was the youngest male soloist ever to tour with the legendary group, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, personally selected by Mr. Waring himself. His European theatrical debut came in the Paris premiere of Hello Dolly! at the Châtalet Opera in a record-breaking four month sold-out engagement.
He received a Drama Desk Award, Outer Circle Critics Award, and an Obie Award for his Off-Broadway portrayal of Billy Flannigan in the revival of Harrigan ’n Hart for the York Theatre Company and has appeared in leading roles in Obie Award winning revivals of Music in the Air and The Gay Life, both at the historic Lamb’s Theatre.
On regional stages, he sang title and or leading roles in Candide (as Candide, receiving Washington D.C.'s Helen Hayes Award), Phantom of the Opera, Chicago (as Mary Sunshine, receiving Philadelphia's Barrymore Award), Sweeny Todd (Tobias and Pirelli), Evita (Magaldi), A Little Night Music (Henrik), The Most Happy Fella (as Giuseppe, receiving the Boston Theater Critics Award, Boston Theater World Award, and the Sea Coast Critics Circle Award), The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic), The Mikado (Nanki Poo), The Student Prince (Karl Franz), The Merry Widow (Camille) and seven companies of Forever Plaid as Jinx, for which he received six pretigious theatrical awards coast to coast.
In addition to numerous recordings for the Naxos label and the Lincoln Center Library, Mr. Easterlin’s television credits include Night of a Hundred Stars (ABC), The Best of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians (PBS), and serving as Executive Director for The Joy of Music (A&E), for which he received two ACE awards.
Mr. Easterlin is a master puppeteer, with extensive experience in all forms of puppetry, including the creation, design, building, and execution of elaborate, artistic productions. He began his own puppet production company at the seasoned age of seven and has maintained this company to the present day.
He previously held a career in the field of corporate advertising, working with such companies as Fox Television, A&E, FDP Worldwide, and BBDO, for which he received both the ADDY Award and the highly prestigious American Advertising Federation’s Young Advertiser of the Year Award.
|
