American baritone John Packard garners
international prominence on the opera stage. Creating the
acclaimed role of Joseph de Rocher in the San Francisco
Opera world premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's Dead
Man Walking, the San
Francisco Chronicle proclaims
his voice to be full of “...ferocious power and insistence,”
and The New York Times affirms
his characterizations as “...deeply and vividly affecting.”
He reprised the role with Semper Oper in Dresden, Vienna at
Theater an der Wien, Pittsburgh Opera, New York City Opera,
Cincinnati Opera, Baltimore
Opera, and can be heard on the world premiere recording on
the Erato Disques label.
In his debut as Rigoletto, Opera
Magazine said,
“...a superb Verdi baritone in John Packard – a seamless
voice, with character and a gleaming upper register. There
are surely big things ahead for him.” A return to Rossini’s
Barber brought high praise from The Buffalo
News ,”… but John Packard was the best Figaro I have ever
seen, and others said the same thing. His singing is lusty,
on the mark and marvelously expressive. He even does his own
guitar playing, accompanying the count’s serenade.
In the 2008-2009 season and beyond, he
performed Braxton in Richard Rodney Bennett's The
Mines of Sulphur at the Wexford Festival; made his role debut as Sweeney in Sweeney
Todd,
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Comunale di Modena; and
Tearto Comunale in Piacenza. Dead
Man Walking brings
him back to Dresden’s Semper Oper for his fourth run
as Joe. In the 2007-2008 Season, he performed Joseph de
Rocher in Dead
Man Walking with
Semper Oper in Dresden and Vienna at Theater an der Wien, Dandini in La
Cenerentola with
Opera Columbus, Germont in La
Traviata at
the Duluth Festival Opera and Opera on the James. and
Sharpless in Madama
Butterfly with
Baltimore Opera. In the 2006-2007 Season, Mr. Packard
performed Enrico in Lucia
di Lammermoor with
Kentucky Opera, Germont in La
Traviata in
Theatre Erfurt in Germany, High Priest in Samson
et Dalilah with
Dayton Opera, Emille de Becque in South
Pacific with Fresno Grand Opera, and Germont in La
Traviata with
the Akron Symphony.
Previous noted engagements include in his
Italian debut with Venice's prestigious La Fenice; the title
role in Rigoletto with
Hawaii Opera Theater; Don Alfonso in Così
fan Tutte with
Opera Pacific; Henri in Chabrier's Le
roi malgré lui with
the American Symphony Orchestra; the title role in Death
of Klinghoffer with
Opera Onafhankelijk Toneel in Rotterdam; Silvio in I
Pagliacci with
Nashville Opera; George in Of
Mice and Men and
Billy Budd in Billy Budd with the Lyric Opera
of Kansas City; and Vaughan Williams' A
Sea Symphony with
the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he made his
New York City Opera debut as Marcello in La
Bohème, and toured twice with the company as
Figaro in Il
Barbiere di Siviglia and
as Marcello in La
Bohème.
His European debut took place in Paris
with Orchestre Colonne as Silvio in a concert performance of I
Pagliacci, under the baton of Antonello
Allemandi. He added Valentin in Faust to
his repertoire in a new David Alden production at the Wiener
Volksoper. As Marcello in La
Bohème, he appeared with the Opera Company of
Philadelphia and with the New Israeli Opera in a production
directed by Franco Zeffirelli. In Israel, Mr. Packard also
sang his first Carmina
Burana with
the Haifa Symphony.
Mr. Packard is the recipient of a Robert
Jacobson Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and has been a winner of the Puccini, Loren Zachary, MacAllister,
and Liederkranz competitions.
