Hailed by Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times as “vocally robust” and “lyrically malevolent”, American Bass-Baritone Joseph Barron is sought after for his portrayals in both the dramatic and comedic repertoire.
Recently, Mr. Barron returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Monterone in Rigoletto and cover Swallow in Peter Grimes, débuted with the Dallas Opera and the Atlanta Opera as Donner in Das Rheingold and the Cleveland Orchestra as Happy in La fanciulla del West. This season he returns to the San Francisco Opera to cover King Heinrich in Lohengrin, the Metropolitan Opera to cover Melitone in La forza del destino and to Finger Lakes Opera to sing Ramfis in Aida.
Mr. Barron has previously joined the Metropolitan Opera for productions of Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto, La fanciulla del West, Salome, Tannhäuser, The Nose, Boris Godunov, Turandot, and The Exterminating Angel. He appeared at the San Francisco Opera in the world premiere of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and covered Leporello in Don Giovanni. He has also performed Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Hong Kong, Opera Philadelphia, Arizona Opera, and New Orleans. Other recent débuts include Don Pizarro in Fidelio with Opera North Carolina and the Princeton Festival, Kaspar in Der Freischütz at Virginia Opera, and in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids.
Other appearances include, the Aix-en-Provence Festival and La Fenice as Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea, The Glimmerglass Festival as Ramfis in Aida, Grandpa Moss in The Tender Land, and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Opera Philadelphia as Montano in Otello; Pittsburgh Opera as Masetto in Don Giovanni, Prophet/Larry King in Dark Sisters, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Geronimo in Il matrimonio segreto, Monterone in Rigoletto, Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, and The Bonze in Madama Butterfly; at The Spoleto Festival as Roldano in Cavalli’s Veremonda, Arizona Opera as Monterone in Rigoletto, Bard Summerscape as Basmanov in Dvorak’s Dimitrij, The Princeton Festival as Henry Kissinger in Nixon in China and Swallow in Peter Grimes, Finger Lakes Opera as Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and with Charlottesville Opera as Colline in La bohème.
Recent concert engagements include Handel’s Messiah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Augustana Oratorio Society, his début at Carnegie Hall with the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Eugene Symphony’s holiday pop concert, and Mozart’s Requiem with the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Barron has garnered top prizes from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Sullivan Foundation, the Opera Index Vocal Competition, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition, the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and the Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus Vocal Competition. He received his Master of Music at the Curtis Institute of Music and his Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.