Jacob Ryan Wright, tenor
Praised for his “smashing Piedmont Opera debut as Frederic” in Pirates of Penzance, American tenor Jacob Ryan Wright is known for his bright, supple tone and charismatic performances in both operatic and concert repertoire.
This season, Jacob makes his Dayton Opera debut with a return to the role of Frederic in Pirates of Penzance, sings First Jew in Dayton Opera’s production of Salome, and joins Teatro Nuovo as a Young Artist to sing Antonio in Rossini’s rarely-performed masterpiece, La gazza ladra, which will be performed at the Lincoln Center in New York City. In the 2017-18 season, Jacob made his debut with Opera San Jose covering Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and performed in Opera Saratoga’s 2018 Summer Festival as an Apprentice Artist. Later in the season, he returned to Greensboro Opera to perform the role of Goro in Madama Butterfly.
Jacob recently concluded a two-year fellowship at the AJ Fletcher Opera Institute, where he performed several leading and featured roles including Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas, Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos, and most recently, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola and Pelléas in an original adaptation of Debussy’s Impressions de Pelléas. During this time, Jacob also appeared as Le Remendado in Carmen with Greensboro Opera, and Apollo (cover) in the Respighi realization of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Chautauqua Opera Company. Other operatic highlights include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Asheville Lyric Opera and Gastone in La traviata with North Carolina Opera. Additionally, Jacob has performed as a Young Artist with Sarasota Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera where, as a cover, he stepped in as Gastone in their mainstage production of La traviata.
On the concert stage, Jacob has recently been featured as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mozart Club of Winston-Salem, with whom he has collaborated for several seasons. Additional concert credits include Mozart’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass No. 5 in A-flat Major, and Chilcott’s St. John Passion. He has been awarded prizes from the Heafner/Williams Vocal Competition and the Orpheus Competition.
Jacob earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan, where he performed the roles of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Il Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos. Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, Jacob holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.