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discipline = "Bass-baritone"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1562034434/media/2019/07/KyleAlbertson.jpg"
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related_companies = ["scene/companies/glimmerglass-festival.md", "scene/companies/the-santa-fe-opera.md", "scene/companies/des-moines-metro-opera.md", "scene/companies/arizona-opera.md", "scene/companies/the-atlanta-opera.md", "scene/companies/houston-grand-opera.md", "scene/companies/the-metropolitan-opera.md", "scene/companies/lyric-opera-of-chicago.md", "scene/companies/san-francisco-opera.md", "scene/companies/minnesota-opera.md"]
slug = "kyle-albertson"
title = "Kyle Albertson"
website = "https://www.kylealbertson.com/"
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Renowned not only for his luxurious voice, confidence, and style, but also for his versatility and ability to bring a character to life on stage, bass-baritone Kyle Albertson is taking the business by storm.  In his recent debut as Wotan in Wagner’s epic masterpiece _Die Walküre_, in Maestro Jaap van Zweden’s final performance with the Dallas Symphony, Theater Jones exclaimed, “the most impressive aspect of this performance came undoubtedly from Wotan…his voice masterfully brought the character to life…Albertson’s interactions throughout the performance with his most beloved daughter, Brünnhilde were ingenuously convincing. Coupled with Albertson’s commanding, though endearing, baritone, these moments did not seem like an opera concert at all, rather a fully realized engagement of dramatic and musical interpretation.”  The Dallas News called his performance “gripping… I can’t recall the opera’s final parting of father and daughter so emotionally intense…this high-intensity performance will surely rank as a legend in Dallas musical history.” And the Texas Classical Review declared he “delivered a quietly dramatic presence in his monologue relatively early on in Act II which gradually built up to the final scene three hours later in which he allowed his luxuriant tone quality to resonate at full volume before slipping gently into the mournful farewell aria ‘Leb’ wohl’.”  This tour-de-force performance left no doubt that the next American Wotan had arrived.

Albertson’s first foray into Wagner’s demanding vocal universe came in his house début at Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of _Das Rheingold_, and subsequently performed the role of Donner in Minnesota Opera’s production shortly thereafter.  This past season, he covered Wotan in Francesca Zambello’s production of _Der Ring des Nibelungen_ for San Francisco Opera, sang DeGuiche in _Cyrano_ with Opera Carolina, Sharpless in _Madama Butterfly_ with New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Sam in _Trouble in Tahiti_ with Opera Parallel at SFJazz, JP Morgan in the World Première of Tesla with SoBe Arts in Miami, and returned to the Phoenicia Festival as Escamillo in _Carmen_.  Additional roles in his repertoire include Pizarro in _Fidelio_, Jochanaan in _Salome_, the title role in _Der fliegende Holländer_, Scarpia in _Tosca_, Jack Rance in _La fanciulla del West_, and Claggart in _Billy Budd_.

This season, engagements include a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of Siegfried, a house début with San Diego Opera to perform the role of Sparafucile in _Rigoletto_, a reprisal of his performance as Lieutenant Horstmayer in Kevin Puts’ _Silent Night_ with Arizona Opera, and his European house début with Oper Köln as Frank Maurant in _Street Scene_.

He first joined The Metropolitan Opera roster for _Don Giovanni_ and returned for five consecutive seasons in their productions of _Le nozze di Figaro_, _Die Zauberflöte_, _Dialogues des carmélites_, _The Merry Widow_, and _Manon_.

With Houston Grand Opera he performed the role of Sacristan in _Tosca_; with Atlanta Opera, the Sergeant of Police in _Pirates of Penzance_; Zuniga in _Carmen_ with Dallas Opera; Lyndon B. Johnson in the workshop of David T. Little’s JFK with Fort Worth Opera; the title role of _Sweeney Todd_ with Syracuse Opera; Lieutenant Horstmayer in Silent Night with Opera San José; Lescaut in _Manon Lescaut_ with Opera Grand Rapids; Count Monterone in _Rigoletto_ for Austin Lyric Opera; Magnifico in _La Cenerentola_ with El Paso Opera; DeGuiche in _Cyrano_ with Michigan Opera Theatre; Sharpless in _Madama Butterfly_ at Northern Lights Music Festival; Porthos in _Les Trois Mousquetaires_ with Phoenicia Festival; Rucker Lattimore in _Cold Sassy Tree_ with Sugar Creek Opera Festival; and the roles of the Prison Warden in _Dead Man Walking_, Hobson in _Peter Grimes_, and the Duke in _Roméo et Juliette_ all with Des Moines Metro Opera.  Of his performance as Bartolo in _Il barbiere di Siviglia_ at Fort Worth Opera, The Dallas Morning News raved: “With a drop-dead gorgeous bass-baritone, Kyle Albertson is younger than the usual Dr. Bartolo, but he’s no less delightful an object of mockery. When he turns on his falsetto to demonstrate an aria from his youth, he sounds like the famously out-of-tune Florence Foster Jenkins.”

A sought-after concert artist, a few recent highlights of his concert career include a solo in Bruckner’s _Te Deum_ with Houston Symphony; the bass solo in Verdi’s _Requiem_ with The Händel Society of Dartmouth; Händel’s Messiah with Boise Philharmonic; Papageno in Boston Youth Symphony’s concert performance of _Die Zauberflöte_ at Symphony Hall; a Carnegie Hall début in Rutter’s _Mass of the Children_; and a concert version of _Der Rosenkavalier_ with Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony.

Albertson is a graduate of The Santa Fe Opera Program, Minnesota Resident Artist Program, The Glimmerglass Festival, Aspen Opera Theater Center, and Chicago Opera Theater.  He appeared in a variety of productions during his training including _Les contes d’Hoffmann_, _Le nozze di Figaro_, _Un ballo in maschera_, _Roméo et Juliette_, _La donna del lago_, as well as performed the roles of Escamillo in _Carmen_, Harašta in _The Cunning Little Vixen_, Geronimo in Cimarosa’s _Il matrimonio segreto_, Gus O’Neill in John Musto’s _Later the Same Evening_, Nilakantha in _Lakmé_, to which critics hailed “Kyle Albertson made an imposing Nilakantha, bringing life to a character that is barely two-dimensional.” and finally Quince in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ and Henry Kissinger in _Nixon in China_, lauded by The Chicago Sun Times and The Chicago Tribune for his “watchful” and “effective” portrayal.

Mr. Albertson has placed as a finalist in several competitions such as The Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, the George London Foundation Competition, the Marcello Giordani Competition, the Liederkranz Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He holds a Master of Music degree from DePaul University where he studied with world renowned mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Northern Iowa where he studied with David Smalley. He is currently in the studio of Dr. Steven King.