American tenor Peter Tantsits received exceptional critical acclaim for his recent portrayal of Max Aue in Les Bienveillantes by Parra, in its world premiere at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp – including a nomination as “Singer of the Year” by Opernwelt.

Tantsits originally trained as a violinist before graduating in vocal studies from Yale University and Oberlin Conservatory. His passionate advocacy for new music and multidisciplinary endeavors led him to collaborations with Peter Sellars, William Kentridge, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lydia Steier, La Fura dels Baus, Herbert Fritsch, Calixto Bieito, and Milo Rau. Vocally at home in the repertoire of Schoenberg, Mahler, Stravinsky, Berg, and Strauss, he developed an early affinity for contemporary music and is a founding member of the New York-based International Contemporary Ensemble.

Stage and concert works by Stockhausen, Nono, Ligeti, Dallapiccola, Henze, and Oliveros, and in particular those of living composers such as Thorvaldsdottir, Barry, Fujikura, Adès, Norman, Escaich, and Dusapin, have solidified his international reputation as a leading interpreter of contemporary repertoire. Over the course of his career, he has premiered more than 50 new works for the opera and concert stage.

Highlights of recent seasons include Herodes (Salome) and Un emigrante (Intolleranza) at Theater Basel, Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte) at the Salzburg Festival, Director (Justice) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and Tangente St. Pölten, and the Electrician (Powder Her Face) at the Semperoper Dresden. With the London Sinfonietta, he performed Henze’s Voices in Finland and England.

He will open the 2024/25 season with a special concert at the Berlin Music Festival and Henze’s Voices with the New European Ensemble in the Netherlands. In the role of Oscar Ekdahl in Fanny & Alexander, he returns to La Monnaie in Brussels. He will also sing Aegisth (Elektra) at Opera Verona, and Un emigrante (Intolleranza) at Opera Antwerp. He will close the season in the title role of Walter Benjamin in Portbou at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Tantsits made his debut at La Scala Milan in 2008, followed by engagements at the Bavarian State Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Semperoper Dresden, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the New National Theatre Tokyo. He has been invited for orchestral appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic, and has performed at major international festivals including the Salzburg Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Holland Festival, Baden-Baden Easter Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, and the Beijing Music Festival.

Works central to his repertoire include Die Soldaten (Desportes), Le Grand Macabre (Piet vom Fass), Salome (Herodes), Intolleranza (Un emigrante), Die Gezeichneten (Alviano), Wozzeck (Andres / Hauptmann / Tambourmajor), and Satyagraha (Gandhi), as well as concert works by Bruckner, Britten, Mahler, and Beethoven.

He adds two major recordings to his discography this year: his acclaimed role in Parra’s Les Bienveillantes for the French label B Records, and the virtuosic title role in Dominick Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe for the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP/sound)

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