Raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, Jack Swanson is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after young tenors in the opera world.
A masterful Rossini interpreter, he recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut in The Barber of Seville.
His roles include Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Fenton in Falstaff, Tonio in La Fille du Régiment, Tamino in Il flauto magico, Belfiore in Il Viaggio a Reims, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Il Conte d’Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Comte Ory.
He has worked in the most prestigioius Theatres such as Wiener Staatsoper, Hamburg opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Lyric Opera Teatro Regio di Torino, Oper Köln, Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National de Lorraine a Nancy, Opéra National du Rhin a Strasburgo, Oper Frankfurt, Santa Fe Opera, e in Festival such as Rossini Opera Festival, Napa Valley, Glyndebourne, Arena di Verona. Also known for his concert work, Mr. Swanson has performed Handel’s Messiah, Dubois’s The Seven Last Words of Christ, Mozart’s Requiem, and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, among others. Other engagements include Holiday Favorites with Arizona Opera and Birmingham Opera, and Houston Grand Opera’s 60th Anniversary Gala, where Swanson performed alongside HGO studio artists and world-renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Swanson made his Kennedy Center debut singing selections from Schumann’s Dichterliebe.
Future engagements include: Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Opéra de Paris, La Cenerentola at Teatro di San Carlo, La clemenza di Tito at Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Mr. Swanson has won competitions and received numerous prestigious awards, including first place in the Florida Grand Opera’s Young Patroness Competition, the San Antonio Music Club Competition, the National Opera Association Competition, and the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition.
He is a two-time recipient of the Richard Tucker Memorial Award from the Santa Fe Opera. He was a finalist in both the Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition and the Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Competition. Mr. Swanson was recently a guest on National Public Radio’s Young Artist in Residence program, PerformanceToday.
Gianluca Macheda
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Stefania Ramacciotti
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“Swanson has the perfect Rossini tenor voice: light, flexible, and capable of stratospheric high notes, which he unleashed with gusto particularly in his second-act aria “Si, ritrovarla io guiro”. He strikes a handsome figure, and his demeanor suggests a man capable of both strong leadership and passionate love. We certainly hope to hear more from Swanson at Lyric Opera.”
Parterre Box
“Jack Swanson, a solar and youthful tenor, with a velocity that is never at fault, excels in a role made for him and in which he takes pleasure in evolving, from the suave “Ecco ridente” of the 1st act to the formidable but oh so intoxicating “Cessa di piu resistere” placed at the very end of the work.”
Concert Classic
“The tenors are perfectly distinct and characterized. Jack Swanson (Belfiore) has the seductive timbre, the elegance of the line and the fluidity of the vocalises.”
Forum Opera
“His performance in the demanding rondo finale, “Cessa di più resistere” (often cut because of its difficulty), is a standout. Swanson’s mastery of the coloratura, breath control, and secure high notes is impressive – a true tour de force.”
Playtosee
“Count Almaviva, Jack Swanson, with his crystal-clear, lyrical tenor, transports us to the spheres that he so longingly extols as Almaviva in „ecco ridente” in the very first aria of the evening. The youthful radiance of his voice bears witness to the Count’s impulsive love for Rosina and places his longing in the service of the true, the beautiful and the good. Full of virtuoso agility, he gradually builds up to the end of this cavatina, culminating in a virtuoso final allegro, which elsewhere would have been considered the highlight of the evening – „Oh, istante d’amore! Felice momento… Here too Jack Swanson is able to blow the audience’s minds with his outstanding coloratura, as there is no sign of fatigue. In ‘Ah il più lieto’, the chorus shows once again his grandiose sound quality and Jack Swanson’s voice flows with seemingly effortless elegance and ease through this parade ride to crown it with an almost magical high C and the words „non fugite, o lieti istanti della mia felicità”.
The Opera Blog
“Jack Swanson’s Count of Almaviva, Rossinian tenor voice – you can’t explain how it is, but just listen to two notes to understand it and it brings to mind the Rossinians of a recent, glorious past – effective stage presence in the youthful and irresistibly comic impulses that the Minnesota tenor offers to his character.”
Pierachille Dolfini