As a native Virginian, Erik Grendahl is thrilled to be returning to Virginia Opera for the 2023-24 season. Praised for his “smooth, copper-hued baritone” (Opera News), Erik recently completed a fellowship with the Steins Music Institute at Ravinia where he made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the 2022-23 season he appeared as Barone Douphol in La Traviata with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and with Virginia Opera. Additionally, he covered the role of Valentin in Faust with Opera Baltimore and made his Carnegie Hall debut as part of the Gerda Lissner winner’s presentation. In the 2021-2022 season, Erik was an Apprentice Artist with The Santa Fe Opera and made his principal and company debut as the Steersman in Tristan und Isolde and as René Gallimard in M. Butterfly. He also made his Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center debut singing Britten’s Songs and Proverbs of William Blake with renowned pianist, Brian Zeger.
Erik received his Master of Music from The Juilliard School where he studied with Darrell Babidge and performed as Herr Fluth in Nicolai’s Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Endimione/Caronte in the New York City premiere of Rossi’s L’Orfeo, and the title role of Donizetti’s lesser-known opera Torquato Tasso. He also presented a recital in Alice Tully Hall as a winner of the prestigious Juilliard Vocal Honors award.
In the 2019-2020 season, Erik was a Festival Artist for Opera Saratoga’s summer season and was scheduled to perform Yamdori in Madame Butterfly and to be the baritone soloist in Rossini’s Petite messe solenelle. Although the traditional season was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Erik appeared in several of Opera Saratoga’s digital initiatives throughout the summer, most notably presenting Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte. Erik’s additional role highlights include Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Joseph De Rocher (Dead Man Walking), Schaunard (La Bohème), Danilo (The Merry Widow), Pangloss/Voltaire (Candide), Captain Corcoran (H.M.S. Pinafore), Dunois (Maid of Orleans), Escamillo (Carmen), and Strephon (Iolanthe).
Erik is an active concert and recital singer and has been the baritone soloist for Bach’s B Minor Mass, Brahms’ Requiem, the Fauré Requiem, Charpentier’s Te Deum, Finzi’s In terra pax, and Schubert’s Mass. Erik is a former George London Competition winner, a national semifinalist of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, third prize winner of the Gerda Lissner Song/Lieder Competition, a finalist in the Washington International Voice Competition, and a proud recipient of the Novick Career Grant. He completed his undergraduate studies at James Madison University and received Bachelor degrees in both music and statistics.