Kenneth Tarver


Kenneth Tarver is an American operatic tenor, known for his interpretations of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for a broad concert and operatic repertoire spanning Baroque to contemporary works. He has performed internationally with major orchestras and opera houses.
WWW kennethtarver.com

Early life and education

Tarver is originally from Detroit, Michigan. He began his musical training at the Interlochen Arts Academy and later earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He received a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Yale School of Music and subsequently joined the Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Career

Concert and opera performances

Tarver has appeared with leading orchestras including the Seattle Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at venues such as the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
In opera, he has sung principal roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Staatsoper Unter den Linden. His roles include Don Ottavio, Ferrando, Tamino, Idomeneo, Tito, Almaviva, Don Ramiro, Lindoro, Rodrigo, and the title role in Rossini's.
His concert repertoire includes works by Hector Berlioz, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach.
He has appeared at festivals including Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Verbier, Lucerne, Tanglewood, Göttingen, and Rheingau. At the Rossini in Wildbad festival, he has performed numerous rarely heard Rossini roles.
Tarver’s broader repertoire includes works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Igor Stravinsky, Joseph Haydn, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Tommaso Traetta, and Rodion Shchedrin. He has performed at international venues such as La Monnaie, Teatro Colón, Opera Australia, Bolshoi Theatre, Israeli Opera, and the Musikverein in Vienna.

Selected conductors collaborated with

Tarver has worked with many distinguished conductors, including:
Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Chailly, James Levine, Alberto Zedda, Kent Nagano, Gustavo Gimeno, René Jacobs, Laurence Cummings, Teodor Currentzis, Gianluca Capuano, Christophe Rousset, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Giovanni Antonini, Carlo Rizzi, Robin Ticciati, Antonino Fogliani, Ivor Bolton, Ludovic Morlot, Bernard Haitink, Sir Mark Elder, Maurizio Benini, Ádám Fischer, Frans Brüggen, Daniel Harding, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Jesús López-Cobos, Louis Langrée, Bobby McFerrin, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Valery Gergiev.

Major engagements

Highlights of Tarver’s operatic and concert engagements include:Royal Opera House, Covent Garden – Falstaff, Otello, Così fan tutte, La Cenerentola Seattle Symphony – Persephone, Roméo et Juliette, Requiem, Symphony No. 9 New York Philharmonic – Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Messiah London Symphony Orchestra – Les Troyens, Roméo et Juliette, Béatrice et Bénédict, Pulcinella Staatsoper Unter den Linden – Belshazzar, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Antigone, Die Entführung aus dem Serail BBC Proms – Les Troyens, Pulcinella Rossini in Wildbad – Lead roles in Sigismondo, Eduardo e Cristina, La gazza ladra, Bianca e Falliero, L’inganno felice, and L’occasione fa il ladro Edinburgh International Festival – Armida, La donna del lago, Roméo et Juliette

Discography

Tarver’s discography spans opera and concert works on major labels including Deutsche Grammophon, LSO Live, Harmonia Mundi, Sony Classical, NAXOS, BR-Klassik, MDG, and BBC Opus Arte.

Rossini

SigismondoEduardo e CristinaBianca e FallieroLa gazza ladraLa donna del lagoAureliano in PalmiraIl viaggio a ReimsPetite messe solennelle
  • ''Paventa Insano''

Mozart

Don GiovanniCosì fan tutteLucio SillaIdomeneo
  • ''Mozart & Salieri – Arias & Overtures''

Berlioz

Roméo et JulietteLes TroyensBéatrice et BénédictLa Mort d'OrphéeLes nuits d'été

Handel

BelshazzarJudas MaccabaeusJoshua

Other