Evan Hughes, the California-born bass-baritone,
is one of the rising stars of his generation. In opera, concert, chamber music,
and 21st century music, he is making his mark in some of the world's
leading opera houses and concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, The
Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Paris
Philharmonie. He has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, Met Chamber Ensemble, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble intercontemporain,
and many others.<<cut>>
Mr. Hughes’ 2019/20 season began with a debut at Zürich Opera in a new production of Handel’s Belshazzar in the role of Gobrias. In Berlin, he continued his collaboration with the Komische Oper as Nick Shadow in a new production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, as well as reprising the roles of Leporello in Don Giovanni, Somnus in Semele, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, which he debuted at the Mostly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center, under the baton of Louis Langrée. On the concert stage, he was a soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Hamburg Staatsorchester, under Kent Nagano at the Elbphilharmonie, and in Beethoven’s Mass in C minor with the BBC Philharmonic, dir. Omer Meier Wellber.
In his 2018/19 season, Mr. Hughes revisited his critically acclaimed interpretation of the Protector in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at Berlin Philharmonie and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. He performed the German premiere of Benjamin’s subsequent work Lessons in Love and Violence in the role of King at Staatsoper Hamburg, to critical acclaim. He sang Theseus in Robert Carsen’s classic production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in his Opera Philadelphia Debut and in Russia, he sang Astolfo in Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso with the Russian State Chamber Orchestra at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. He was seen in the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in his San Diego Opera debut. In recital, he performed in collaboration with Brazilian pianist Helio Vida in the concert series Les Grands Interprètes in Toulouse, France and in Beirut, Lebanon.
Recent international engagements included a return to the Komische Oper Berlin as Somnus in Händel’s Semele (directed by Barrie Kosky), after making his debut there the previous season as Leporello in Herbert Fritsch’s production of Don Giovanni. Mr. Hughes created the role of Nick Shadow in Simon McBurney’s production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, reprised at the Dutch National Opera. On tour with the Festival, Mr. Hughes sang Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Beijing Music Festival. In the United States, Mr. Hughes’ interpretation of the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro with Boston Lyric Opera won him recognition as well as his bass solos in Händel’s Messiah with the Cincinnati Symphony.
As a soloist with Semperoper Dresden for five seasons, Mr. Hughes has built a rich repertoire including Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro; Leporello and Masetto in Don Giovanni; and both Guglielmo and Don Alfonso in Così Fan Tutte. He sang Händel’s Zoroastro in Orlando and Achilla in Giulio Cesare; Puccini’s Schaunard in La Bohème, and Angelotti in Tosca; Emma Becker in Ronnefeld’s Nachtausgabe, Narbal in a new production of Berlioz’ Les Troyens, and many others.
As a committed interpreter of new compositions, Mr. Hughes has focused particularly on the works of Elliott Carter and Matthias Pintscher. He premiered many of Carter’s last vocal works including performances with James Levine and the Met Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall and at the Tanglewood music festival. Matthias Pintscher’s Songs from Solomon’s Garden brought Mr. Hughes around the world under the baton of the composer (Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC SSO, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra), culminating in a recording of the work with Ensemble intercontemporain for Alpha Classics. Also with Southwest Chamber Music, Mr. Hughes recorded Mexican composer Gabriella Ortiz’ Rio Bravo. In the American premiere at the Tanglewood Festival, Mr. Hughes scored a personal triumph as the Protector in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin.
Mr. Hughes earned a Bachelor of Arts in music from UCLA, a Masters in music from the Curtis Institute of music, and participated in festivals including Tanglewood, Ravinia, Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, L’Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Marlboro Music, and the Music Academy of the West, where he was the winner of the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition. Mr. Hughes was a member of the Lindemann Young artist development program at the Metropolitan Opera from 2010 to 2013.