Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Baritone Weston Hurt’s most recent engagements have included a virtual performance of Madison Opera’s annual Opera in the Park concert, a recital with Austin Opera as part of the company’s Live from Indy Terrace series, and Count di Luna in Il trovatore with Portland Opera (cancelled due to COVID-19). Additional scheduled appearances include the role of Germont in La traviata with Lyric Opera of Kansas City (cancelled due to COVID-19) and Count di Luna with Madison Opera (cancelled due to COVID-19). On the concert stage, he was to appear in excerpts from Tosca with the Tallahassee Symphony (cancelled due to COVID-19). In the fall of 2020, he joined the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Conservatory as Assistant Professor of Voice.

Engagements in Hurt’s COVID-19 shortened 2019-2020 season began with Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Amarillo Opera. He then reprised his signature role of Germont in La traviata with Madison Opera. In the spring of 2020, he was scheduled to join Fort Worth Opera for their production of Die Fledermaus in the role of Falke (cancelled). Hurt’s 2018-2019 season included performances of Germont in La traviata with Opera San Antonio and Portland Opera, which he also covered at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He also returned to New Orleans Opera as the title role in Rigoletto.

The baritone began the 2017-2018 season with a return to Seattle Opera as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, followed by a company debut with Nashville Opera as Scarpia in Tosca. He also added two new roles to his repertoire, singing Creon in Cherubini’s Medea with Opera Omaha and John Peerybingle in I Grillo del Focolare with Teatro Grattacielo, both company debuts as well. When not onstage himself, Hurt mentored students in a masterclass at Seattle Opera’s Summer Academy at Marrowstone.

During the 2016/17 Season, Weston made his role debut as Valentin in Gounod’s Faust in a return to New Orleans Opera, and made his company debut at Tulsa Opera as Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca. He returned to Seattle Opera in his signature role of Germont in Verdi’s La traviata, and inaugurated the Berkshire Opera Festival as Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Recent opera engagements have included his role debut as the title character in Nabucco at Seattle Opera, his debut with New Orleans Opera as Germont in La traviata, his house and role debut with Houston Grand Opera as Scarpia in Tosca, his role debut as Iago in Otello with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and a return to Seattle Opera in another role debut as Talbot in Maria Stuarda. He has also appeared as Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the title role of Rigoletto with PORTopera and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, Germont in La traviata at the Seattle Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Atlanta Opera, Ford in Falstaff at the Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, and Virginia Opera; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at the Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, New York City Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids; Schaunard in La bohème at the Dallas Opera, Peter in Hansel and Gretel at the Portland Opera; Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at Portland Opera, the Arizona Opera and Austin Lyric Opera; the Count in Le nozze di Figaro at Michigan Opera Theater, Frank in Die tote Stadt at the Dallas Opera, the New York City Opera and with Odyssey Opera; Baldassare in L’Arlesiana with the Opera Orchestra of New York, and a performance of Der ferne Klang with the American Symphony Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall.

Also a prolific concert singer and recitalist, Hurt has performed in recitals sponsored by the prestigious Marilyn Horne Foundation in the United States, and has also performed in concert internationally, including a South American tour of performances of the Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem. Recent engagements have included appearances with the Nashville Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, and the Oratorio Society of New York in Carnegie Hall. His large repertoire includes such works as the Handel Messiah, the Fauré Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, the Bach Mass in B minor and Magnificat, the Mozart Mass in C minor and Coronation Mass, the Haydn Paukenmesse, and the Britten War Requiem, which he sang at Carnegie Hall.

A graduate of the prestigious Juilliard Opera Center, Hurt has received many notable vocal awards, including 1st place and the People’s Choice Award from the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, the Vienna Prize from the George London Foundation, and 1st Place in the 2003 Oratorio Society of New York Competition, as well as various awards from the Licia Albanese- Puccini Foundation International Competition, Liederkranz Foundation, Metropolitan Opera National Council, Opera Index, and Palm Beach Opera Competition, and two career grants conferred by The Santa Fe Opera.