ERIC McKEEVER
ERIC McKEEVER
- B A R I T O N E -
American baritone Eric McKeever has won consistent praise for his voice of “power and brilliance” (Chicago Tribune) and “considerable flexibility and a communicative presence enhanced by expressive, crystalline diction.” (Opera News)
Recent and Upcoming: Artist-in-Residence, a concert with Brian Stokes Mitchel and Don Alfonso with OperaDelaware; title role of Kaiser von Atlantis with On Site Opera; he is William Grant Still in Sanctuary Road with Penn Sq. Opera; sang Monterone and covered Rigoletto with Opera Columbus; and, returned to On Site to sing Michele in Il tabarro. He was guest soloist as Porgy at the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico this summer. This season includes Mozart's Requiem with Princeton Symphony; Monterone with OperaDelaware; and, a return to Opera Columbus in a reimagined Magic Flute in the role of Papa(geno) in The Temple.
Past seasons have included: the title role of Don Giovanni with Indianapolis Opera; Marcello with Opera Columbus; concerts with Baltimore Concert Opera and OperaDeleware; the role of Papa-Daddy in Why I Live at the P.O. with UrbanArias; Tebaldo in Giulietta e Romeo with Teatro Grattacielo; concerts with Opera on the James; and Leporello in Don Giovanni. He was Betto in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Columbus; Tonio with Salt Marsh Opera; and, sang with the Anchorage Festival of Music.
On the concert stage he appeared as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the New Albany Symphony, performed Bernstein’s Songfest with Skidmore College, returned to the Lebanon Philharmonic for Messiah and debuted with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra in Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice. An advocate for new music, he will perform excerpts from Aaron Siegel’s oratorio I will tell you the truth about this and sing and film The Promised Land: An Adirondack Folk Opera by Glen McClure. Mr. McKeever’s 2018-19 season included Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Opera Columbus, David in L’amico Fritz with Baltimore Concert Opera, Germont in La traviata with Pacific Opera Project.
Previous season for Mr. McKeever include his Anchorage Opera debut as Malatesta in Don Pasquale, joined the roster of New York City Opera covering the role of Jake Wallace in La Fanciulla del West and returned to Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera as the Speaker in The Magic Flute. He also performed the role of Charlie in Kamala Sankaram’s Looking at You at BRIC in Brooklyn. In the summer of 2018, Mr. McKeever debuted with Finger Lakes Opera singing Frank in Die Fledermaus, performed Adam Waters’ River of Freedom with the Chautauqua Institution and joined Salt Marsh Opera as a soloist in “Music at the Lighthouse.”
Operatic highlights include critically acclaimed performances as Sander in Zémire et Azor with Skylight Music Theatre, Marcello in La bohème with Opera Columbus, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Naples and Frank in Die Fledermaus with Florentine Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Naples and Baltimore Concert Opera. Mr. McKeever recently made his New York City Opera debut as the Westphalian Soldier in the Hal Prince production of Candide and performed Papageno in the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s touring production of The Magic Flute.
A proponent of new music, Mr. McKeever has appeared as the Revival Singer in Florentine Opera’s Elmer Gantry, performed the title role in The Fall of Stag Lee with Buffalo Opera Unlimited, joined the Center for Contemporary Opera as the Security Guard in the a cappella opera Sweat, performed as the Baritone in Experiments in Opera’s Flash Operas and can be heard as the Scientist in Stephen Mellilo’s Son of the Storm.
Able to encompass a variety of roles, Mr. McKeever has performed Don Pizarro in Skylight Music Theater’s Fidelio, starred as the title role of El Cimarrón with the Center for Contemporary Opera, took on the title role of Verdi’s Macbeth with Opera Company of Middlebury and joined Opera Project Columbus as Michele in Il Tabarro.
A frequent performer of Rossini, Mr. McKeever was seen with Little Opera Theatre of New York as Don Parmenione in L'occasione fa il Ladro, Fernando in Bronx Opera's La gazza ladra and singing Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the North Shore Music Festival.
Other roles and credits include Valentin in Faust with Winter Opera St. Louis, Escamillo in Carmen with Long Island Opera, Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream in his Opera Naples debut, Der Musiklehrer in Adriana auf Naxos with St. Petersburg Opera and Jake in Porgy and Bess with Dayton Opera. He has covered roles of Burnah/The Ships Cook in Amistad by Anthony Davis at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He also participated in Lyric Opera's Opera In The Neighborhoods portraying Figaro in The Barber of Seville and Alidoro in Cinderella.
Reviews:
In the second aria-song, "A Woman is a Sometime Thing" the African-American baritone Eric McKeever stood out, with his graceful stage presence and mastery of phrasing in the style of blues and authentic jazz.
Porgy and Bess – Festival de Casals Puerto Rico, Elnuevodia.com
This is one opera with no villains, but Eric McKeever as the betrayed husband had music which could fit Scarpia–and his torment from first scene of doubt to find denouement was played with a dark threatening baritone.
Il tabarro – On Site Opera, Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet.com
More on Eric McKeever at: http://www.EricMcKeeverbaritone.com
