Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

American tenor Joshua Stewart, “strikingly good” (The Guardian), has been praised for his “big, warm, confident” voice (Palm Beach Arts Paper) and “interpretive conviction” (Philadelphia City Paper). Displaying compelling artistry and versatility, he is quickly making a name for himself in the world of opera without losing touch with his jazz roots. In the 2016-17 season, Joshua Stewart made his Madison Opera debut in the title role in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, a role which he
subsequently covered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and he also performed several jazz concerts with the „Bourbon Street Stompers“ brass band in Spain.
The tenor appeared in August 2017 as the Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Peter Sellars at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm with the Royal Opera Orchestra of Stockholm. Later in the season 2017-18 he takes over the role of the Narrator in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the directional team of Gustavo Dudamel and Peter Sellars. Recent debuts include Trin in La Fanciulla del West at the Hamburg State Opera, Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio with Opera de Lausanne and Opera de Fribourg, Don Ottavio in
Don Giovanni with Toledo Opera, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Carolina, Abdallo in Nabucco at the Oberammergau Passionstheater, as the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana with the Toledo Symphony, and as the Erzengel in Das Spiel von der Auferstehung des Herrn by Walter Braunfels with the Muenchner Rundfunkorchester. He also performed the Shepherd in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and at the Royal Festival Hall in London under the musical direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen. As a member of the Bavarian State Opera’s studio, Joshua Stewart made his debut in 2012 as the
Priester in the world premiere of Babylon by Jörg Widmann. Additional roles as a studio member include Conte d’Albafloria in Mirandolina, Joe in Gershwin’s Blue Monday, Jeppo Liverotto in Lucrezia Borgia, Albazar in Il Turco in Italia, and Capitano in Simon Boccanegra. Other notable roles in his repertoire include Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, Nemorino in Elexir of Love, Prunier in La Rondine, Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Toni Reischmann in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers and the title role in Idomeneo. Joshua Stewart has performed at numerous festivals including Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (France), Rossini Opera Festival (Italy), Marlboro Music Festival (USA), Boyne Music Festival (Ireland), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (USA), and Saint Bart’s Music Festival
(Caribbean). He has worked with renown conductors including Paolo Carignani, Bertrand de Billy, Paolo Arrivabeni, Marco Armiliato, Maurizio Benini, Constantin Trinks, Kent Nagano, Corrado Rovaris, Andrea Battistoni, George Manahan, and James Meena, He has had the honor of performing for several world leaders, including Ex-President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Ex-President George H.W. Bush. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Joshua Stewart is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Opera. He was a prize winner in the 2013 Internationaler Voice Competition „Vokal genial“ in addition to other awards.