Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives
Matthew White
Tenor Matthew White recently made critically acclaimed debuts as Roméo in Roméo et Juiliette at Cincinnati Opera and as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Tulsa Opera, prompting critics to proclaim him “an elegant tenor capable of exciting high notes. His famous cavatina, Ah! Lève-toi, soleil, was mesmerizing.”
In the 2020/21 Season, White returns to Tulsa Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto and makes his house and role debut at the Bard SummerScape Festival as Lancelot in Chausson’s rarely performed Le Roi Arthus. He was also scheduled to return to Cincinnati Opera as Pinkerton, and make house debuts at Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Alfredo in La Traviata, Arizona Opera as Don José in Carmen, and Michigan Opera Theatre as Roméo.
Highlights of the 2019/20 Season featured house debuts at Edmonton Opera as the Duke, Opera Naples as Rodolfo in La bohème, and Tulsa Opera as Pinkerton. He had also been scheduled to debut at Dallas Opera as the tenor soloist in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. On the concert stage, he joined the Florida Orchestra as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah and performed in a gala concert at Cincinnati Opera.
A recent graduate of Philadelphia’s prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts, White performed a variety of roles during his time in the program, including Roméo, the title role in Werther, Roberto in Puccini’s Le Villi, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Avito in Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re, and Faust in Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène. He made his house debut at Opera Maine as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, and has appeared at Palm Beach Opera and Vero Beach Opera. Concert credits include performances with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Ocean City Pops, and Longfellow Chorus Festival.
A favorite of competitions, White was selected to compete in the 2019 Operalia Competion in Prague. He has been awarded the Grand Prize of the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, 1st place in the Deborah Voigt International Vocal Competition, 2nd place in the Metropolitan Opera Mid-Atlantic region, the Grand Prize in the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition, an Encouragement Award from the George London Foundation, and the Alfonso Cavaliere Award. He has participated in the training programs of Bel Canto at Caramoor, PORTopera, and Seagle Music Colony.
A trained violinist, White is also an avid surfer and runs his own surfboard business, which currently has clients around the world.