Matthew Pearce

Praised for his “Confidence”, “Brightness” and “High level of Control” (Opera Wire), Mr. Pearce is a recent graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist at Washington National Opera who hails from the small town of Union, Kentucky. In the 22-23 season, the rising spinto will make his professional debut with Portland Opera as Don José in their production of Carmen. During the 21-22 season as a young artist, Mr. Pearce performed the role of Don José in the company debut of Francesca Zambello’s production of Carmen conducted by Evan Rogister at Washington National Opera and participated in the Kennedy Center’s Honors in a tribute for Justino Diaz. During the 2019-20 season, Mr. Pearce performed the role of Monostatos in the Maurice Sendak production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and First Philistine in Saint-Saëns’s Sansón y Dalila conducted by John Fiore at Washington National Opera. The lyric tenor also sang the Guard in the world premiere of David Lang’s new opera The Prisoner of the State with The New York Philharmonic under the baton of Jaap van Zweden at David Geffen Hall. Highlights of previous seasons include performances of Poem in October (1970) with the Juilliard Orchestra and Juilliard’s AXIOM ensemble led by Jeffrey Milarsky and a debut at David Geffen Hall for the New York premiere of Angela Rice’s Easter Oratorio Thy Will be Done with the National Chorale. Mr. Pearce spent two summers at the Chautauqua Institution where he appeared as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen and Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi. Mr. Pearce earned his Master’s of Music from the Juilliard School where he studied with the legendary Marlena Malas and a Bachelor’s in Music at the University of Kentucky under the tutelage of Dr. Everett McCorvey. He currently studies with Laura Brooks Rice.