American Tenor Peter Tantsits’ recent portrayal of Max Aue (Parra’s LES BIENVEILLANTES in the world premiere for the Flemish Opera Antwerp) earned him exceptional critical acclaim, including nomination for Opernwelt’s “Singer of the year.”

Tantsits trained as a violinist before graduating in vocal studies from Yale University and Oberlin Conservatory, and his passionate advocacy for new music and multidisciplinary endeavours lead him to collaborations with Peter Sellars, William Kentridge, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lydia Steier, La Fura dels Baus, Herbert Fritsch, Calixto Bieito and Milo Rau.  Vocally at home in the repertoire of Schoenberg, Mahler, Stravinsky, Berg, and Strauss, he established an early affinity for contemporary music and is a founding member of the New York based International Contemporary Ensemble.

Stage and concert works by Stockhausen, Nono, Ligeti, Dallapiccola, Henze, and Oliveros, and in particular, those of living composers such as Thorvaldsdottir, Barry, Fujikura, Adès, Norman, Escaich and Dusapin, solidified his international reputation as a leading interpreter of new works, having premiered more than 50 new works for the opera and concert stage over the course of his career.

Highlights of the last seasons include Herodes/SALOME and Un emigrante/INTOLLERANZA at Theatre Basel, Monostatos/ZAUBERFLÖTE at Salzburg Festival, Director/JUSTICE at Grand Theatre de Geneve and Tangente St. Pölten and Electrician/POWDER HER FACE at Semperoper Dresden. With London Sinfonietta he performed Hence’s VOICES in Finland and England.

He will open the 2024/25 season with a Special Concert at Music Festival Berlin and Hence VOICES with the New European Ensemble in The Netherlands. With Oscar Ekdahl in FANNY & ALEKSANDER he returns to La Monnaie in Brussels, he will sing Aegisth/ELEKTRA at Opera Verona and Un emigrante/INTOLLEANZA at Opera Antwerp. He will close the season with the title role in WALTER BENJAMININ PORTBON at Gran Teatro del Liceu.

Tantsits debuted at La Scala Milan in 2008,followed by engagements at the Bavarian State Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Dresden Semperoper, Royal Opera Covent Garden, New National Theatre Tokyo. Invitations for orchestral engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic highlight his appearances at festivals including the Salzburg Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Holland Festival, Baden-Baden Easter Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival and Beijing Music Festival. 

Works central to his repertoire include DIE SOLDATEN (Desportes), LE GRAND MACABRE (Piet vom Fass), SALOME (Herodes), INTOLLERANZA (Emigrante), DIE GEZEICHNETEN (Alviano), WOZZECK (Andres/Hauptmann/Tambourmajor), SATAYAGRAHA (Gandhi) and in concert, works of Bruckner, Britten, Mahler and Beethoven.

He adds two major recordings to his discography this year including his celebrated role in Parras LES BIENVEILLANTES for the French label B Records and the virtuosic title role in Dominick Argento’s VAOYAGE OP EDGAR ALLAN POE for the Boston recording initiative, BMOP Sound. 

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