Zachary Altman bass-baritone
Bass-Baritone Zachary Altman is gaining notice for wide ranging repertoire in major theaters across Europe and the United States. In 2024-25 he will return to Teatro Massimo di Palermo as Nekrotzar in Le Grand Macabre, to Teatro la Fenice as Der Wirt in Weill's Der Protagonist, to Opera Philadelphia for Missy Mazzoli's The Listeners, and will join the Czech Philharmonic as the bass soloist in Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc. In the 2023-24 season, he debuted at the Nederlandse Reisopera as Der Pförtner in Das Wunder der Heliane, returned to Teatro dell'opera di Roma as the Speaker in The Magic Flute and First Nazarene/First Soldier in Salome, and debuted with the Bard SummerScape Festival as Count Oberthal in Meyerbeer's Le prophète.
In 2022-23, he debuted as Trinity Moses in Weill's Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny with three theaters: Opera Vlaanderen, Komische Oper Berlin, and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. In addition, he made a role debut as Vodnik in Rusalka with Opera Idaho, and debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra as Billy Jackrabbit in La Fanciulla del West, conducted by Franz-Welser Möst. His 2021-22 engagements included Bottom (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle with Opera Malmö, a return to Leporello (Don Giovanni) to debut with Scottish Opera, and a debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1st Apprentice in Wozzeck) and with Opera Tampa (Four Villains in Tales of Hoffmann).
Other highlights include performing with the Royal Danish Opera as Henry Kissinger in a new production of Nixon in China, Teatro Massimo di Palermo as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Opéra de Lyon as Tschao in Zemlinksy's Der Kreidekreis, Hamburg Staatsoper as Athlet/Tierbändiger in Lulu, Teatro La Fenice as Lovell in Battistelli's Richard III, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Mr. Gedge in Albert Herring, the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi in Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc, Virginia Opera as Leporello, and Opera Philadelphia as Starveling (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Leandro (Love for Three Oranges). Mr. Altman has performed multiple roles at Teatro dell'opera di Roma including Mr. Flint in Deborah Warner's new production of Billy Budd, as the Athlet/Tierbändiger in Lulu, and productions of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny and Henze's The Bassarids.
Earlier performances also included Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream with AsLiCo in Brescia, Cremona, Pavia, Como, and Reggia Emilia, Dritte Schäfer in Daphne with the Hamburg Staatsoper; Tierbändiger/Athlet in Lulu with West Edge Opera; and Il Mandarino in Turandot with the Pacific Symphony, Bernstein’s Candide with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As a member of Theater Basel in the 2014-15 season, he performed six roles, including Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia), Schlemil/Hermann (Les contes d'Hoffmann), and Montano in a new production of Otello directed by Calixto Bieito.
Previously, Zachary was a Principal Resident Artist at Opera San Jose, performing as Zurga (The Pearl Fishers), Count Di Luna (Il Trovatore), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Ford (Falstaff), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) and the title roles in Don Giovanni and Gianni Schicchi. He has also performed with Gotham Chamber Opera, the Castleton Festival, Caramoor Festival, and Chautauqua Institution, has been a young artist with both Fort Worth Opera and Sarasota Opera, and received awards from the Marilyn Horne Foundation and the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions.
He received both his graduate and undergraduate degrees from Manhattan School of Music, where he sang his first Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Joe Harland in John Musto’s Later the Same Evening, which was recorded and released on Albany Records.