American baritone Mark Delavan has earned public and critical acclaim for his debut appearances with the Metropolitan Opera as Amonasro in Aida conducted by James Levine, and with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Amfortas in a new production of Parsifal, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. He is an esteemed member at the New York City Opera, where he has sung roles such as the title roles in Der fliegende Holländer, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Gianni Schicchi, Falstaff, thefour villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Scarpia in Tosca, Ezio in Attila, Escamillo in Carmen, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Nottingham in Roberto Devereux as wellas Horace Tabor in a new production of The Ballad of Baby Doe.

In the 2007/08 season, he will appear as Germont in the opening night production of La Traviata at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Amonasro in Aida at the Metropolitan Opera as well as the opera house in Bilbao, Spain. He debuts with the Los Angeles Opera as Iago in Otello conducted by James Conlon, and in June 2008 will appear for the first time as Wotan in a new production of Das Rheingold conducted by Donald Runnicles and directed by Francesca Zambello. This will launch the new San Francisco Opera’s Ring cycle, in which he will appear for the first time in all three Wotan roles (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried) from 2008 to 2011.

In recent seasons, he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, in a concert version of Der fliegende Holländer, and appeared with the Washington National Opera as Amonasro in Aida, as well as productions at the New York City Opera asMichele in Il Tabarro and Jochanaan in Salome, both in new productions. In addition, he has appeared with the Baltimore and Milwaukee’s Florentine Operas as Rigoletto and made his U.K. debut with the Edinburgh Festival in the title role of Verdi’s Macbeth, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. Also with the New York City Opera, he starred in the title role of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd to great critical acclaim and sang the title role of Nabucco at the Metropolitan opera as well as the title role in a new production of Simon Boccanegra with the Santa Fe Opera.

In the 2004/05 season, he returned to the San Francisco Opera as Scarpia in Tosca, conducted by Donald Runnicles, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the world premiere of William Bolcom’s The Wedding, directed by Robert Altman and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. He made his European stage debut in new productions of Rigoletto, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and as Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino, directed by David Alden and conducted by Fabio Luisi, with the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, as well as performances of Scarpia at the Metropolitan Opera.

In the 2005/06 season, he made his Royal Opera, Covent Garden debut as Jack Rance in a major revival of La Fanciulla del West, conducted by Antonio Pappano, and returned to Munich as Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino, conducted by Fabio Luisi and Renato Palumbo. At the Metropolitan Opera he appeared in La Forza del Destino and Aida.

In the 2006/07 season, Mr. Delavan appeared in a new production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride and Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Lyric Opera of Chicago, a major revival of Andrea Chenier at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana. He recently appeared as Scarpia in Tosca at the Bavarian State Opera and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He debuted at the Staatsoper unter den linden in Berlin as Jochanaan in Salome and will appear at the Saito Kinen Festival as Tomsky in Pique Dame, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

Mr. Delavan has appeared with many companies throughout North America, including the Atlanta Opera, Baltimore Opera, Florentine Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Kentucky Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Montreal Opera, New Jersey State Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Carolina, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Pacific, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Spoleto Festival, U.S.A..

Other roles in his repertoire have included Iago in Otello, Gerard in Andrea Chénier, Germont in La Traviata, Jack Rance in La Fanciulla del West, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, and Altair in Die Äegyptische Helene among others.

Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Mr. Delavan earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Oral Roberts University. He was a national finalist of the Metropolitan Opera auditions and Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera.

Updated: June 2007