Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

The brilliant lyric tenor Alek Shrader continues to impress audiences with the “luxury of his phrasing, the clarity of his diction and the sensitivity and expressiveness of his characterizations”.

Mr. Shrader’s 2015-2016 season begins with performances of Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Philadelphia, followed by a return to the San Francisco Opera to sing David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Later in the season he will sing Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Baltimore Lyric Opera and Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with the Pittsburgh Opera.

In the 2014/15 season, Mr. Shrader returned to the San Francisco Opera to sing the role of Emilio in Handel’s Partenope¸ followed by a return to the Metropolitan Opera for Camille in a new production of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Other engagements include Jupiter & Apollo in Handel’s Semele with the Seattle Opera, singing one of his signature roles, Count Almaviva , in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Canadian Opera Company, and a return to Santa Fe Opera for Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment. In concert, Mr Shrader will sing the title role in Candide with the Vancouver Symphony. Future engagements include leading roles with San Francisco Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Theater an der Wien, and Welsh National Opera. 

Alek Shrader began the 2013/14 season singing Almaviva with the San Francisco Opera, followed by reprises of the role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Dallas Opera. The season also included engagements as Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, and Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Santa Fe Opera. Mr. Shrader was also heard as Ferdinand in Thomas Ades’ The Tempest for his San Francisco Symphony debut in the fall and as Ferrando in the Christopher Alden/Gustavo Dudamel Così Fan Tutte with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall.

In 2012/13, Mr. Shrader made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Ades’ ‘modern masterpiece’, The Tempest, conducted by the composer himself, and returned to sing Almaviva in the English version of The Barber of Seville. He sang Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Hamburgische Staatsoper and then returned to the U.S. for a North American recital tour, including San Francisco Performances, Oberlin University and his Carnegie Weill Hall debut. Baltimore audiences had the opportunity to hear Mr. Shrader in a gala performance of Belcanto arias and ensembles in the spring. Later in the season, he was featured in an opera gala, sponsored by the San Antonio Opera. Mr. Shrader closed the season with the tenor solo in the Mozart Requiem at the Cincinnati May Festival with James Conlon conducting, followed by his role debut as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at the Glyndebourne Festival.

Mr. Shrader opened the 2011/12 season as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress with Opera de Lille, followed by Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Hamburg Opera. He sang Tamino in Lyric Opera Chicago’s production of The Magic Flute, and the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring with the Los Angeles Opera. Mr. Shrader appeared as Oronte in David Alden’s highly-acclaimed new production of Handel’s Alcina at the Opera National de Bordeaux and returned to San Francisco Opera for Tamino in The Magic Flute. He closed the season as Gonzalve in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole at the Glyndebourne Festival.

Highlights of the 2010/11 season include the title role in Berstein’s Candide in concert performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Egeo in Medea in Corinto, Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio and Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Bavarian State Opera. On the concert stage, he gave a recital in Santiago, Spain and made his Wigmore Hall Recital debut with pianist Roger Vignoles. Mr. Shrader also appeared as Lindoro in The Italian Girl in Algers with Opera National de Bordeaux and as Almaviva in The Barber of Seville with Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse. He closed the season at the Salzburg Festival, where he debuted as Ferrando in Così fan tutte​.

Highly acclaimed by the San Francisco press as a recitalist who is “natural and effortless, so different from just about everybody else”, Alek Shrader was featured in two On Wings of Song recitals in the spring of the 2009/10 season; at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and also at Santa Monica College for the Performing Arts (Broad Stage), both sponsored by The Marilyn Horne Foundation. Concert appearances this season included Messiah with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Mozart Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony and St. Louis Symphony. 

Mr. Shrader, a former Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera, made a spectacular mainstage debut in the San Francisco 2008/09 season, replacing an indisposed Ramon Vargas as Nemorino in two performances of The Elixer of Love. Additional performances with the San Francisco Opera have included Korngold’s, Die Tote Stadt, the role of Arbace in Mozart’s Idomeneo, and Nemorino in student performances of The Elixer of Love. Other opera highlights have included Almaviva in Opera Cleveland’s production of The Barber of Seville and Il Re Pastore with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He was also a featured soloist in the 2009 Metropolitan Opera Concert in the Park series.

Alek Shrader made his professional debut as Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Opera Theater of St. Louis, where he had spent the previous two summers as a young artist. He has appeared in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino with the Gotham Chamber Opera, in William Bolcom’s A Wedding at the Music Academy of the West, and participated in Renata Scotto's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Opera Studio. Shrader’s roles in previous seasons have included the title role in Le Comte Ory, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Tony in Bernstein’s West Side Story, and Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola.

Alek Shrader is the recipient of a Sara Tucker grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation and a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.