American tenor Roy Cornelius Smith has established himself among the ranks of the finest tenors of his generation through his voice of exceptional color and beauty, his compelling dramatic interpretations, and outstanding musicianship. The tenor has already been heard on some of the world's great operatic stages including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna Volksoper, and the New Israeli Opera. He has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice, Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few.
For the 2011/12 season Mr. Smith makes his debut with the Royal Danish Opera as Turiddu in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana (dir. Kasper Holten) and Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, (dir. Paul Curran), returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for his 4th season as Calaf, as well as to the New Orleans Opera for the same role, and appears as Dick Johnson in Nashville.
In summer 2011 the artist was heard in the title role of Andrea Chenier for his Bregenz Festival debut in a production directed by Keith Warner for which he received praise from Opera News:
'{Smith} has crossed into the dramatic repertoire, his voice darkening and gaining power, but without loss of its inherent sweetness and trumpet-like metallic top. Creating a vivid, charismatic character, Smith excelled in the role's two big arias, particularly an impassioned ringing improvviso. ''
During the 2010/11 season Mr. Smith made role debuts including Pollione at the Chatauqua Opera Festival in July (2010) Andrea Chenier with Nashville Opera in October 2010, and Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West at Lyric Opera of Chicago in January and February 2011, for which he received standing ovations at each performance.
The tenor also performed as a soloist with the Alabama Symphony in an all Wagner program and the Braunfels Te Deum at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in April, 2011. In March the artist also covered Calaf at La Scala di Milano, and returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for performances of Calaf.
2009/2010 included Roy Cornelius Smiths’s return to Deutsche Oper Berlin to reprise the role of Calaf in Turandot, his debut with New York City Opera as Haman in Hugo Weisgall’s Esther, Radames in Aida with Birmingham Opera, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with New Orleans Opera, and an appearance as the featured soloist in a holiday concert with Signature Symphony.
Highlights of the 2008-2009 season included the tenor’s debut in the role of Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut with New Orleans Opera and a return to the Vienna Volksoper as Calaf in November. 2009 began with further appearances as Calaf in Birmingham (January), Jacksonville (February) and Charlotte, NC (April). Mr. Smith was also heard in many concerts that season beginning with a Puccini Gala at the Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Austria with the Tonkünstler Orchestra under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and concerts in Chattanooga, Toledo (Verdi Gala in February 2009), the Verdi Requiem in Eugene, Oregon in May and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Minnesota Orchestra.
Mr. Smith also made his Deutsche Oper Berlin debut in July 2009 as Calaf alongside Maria Guleghina in Turandot. Additional performances recent seasons include his debut as Erik (Der Fliegender Holländer Grand Rapids in 2008, Canio, Radames, Pinkerton, (Aspen Music Festival), Hoffegut in Die Vögel (The Birds) by Walter Braunfels under the baton of Julius Rudel, Rodolfo, Der Rabbi in Kurt Weill's opera, Der Weg, der Verheissung (The Eternal Road), Don José, Riccardo in Verdi's first opera Oberto, Ismaele Laca in Jenufa, Fatty the bookkeeper, in Weill's Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (available on Kultur DVD/Video with Catherine Malfitano and Dame Gwyneth Jones, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies), and Cavaradossi in Tosca.
Mr. Smith has concertized extensively throughout the United States - highlights were performances of the Verdi Requiem at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and in Nashville. The artist made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2000 in Aida and since, has been invited back for 11 different productions including Ariadne auf Naxos, An American Tragedy, Aida, Tannhäuser, Le Rossignol, Die Frau Ohne Schatten, The Merry Widow, Boris Godunov, Salome, Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco, Simon Boccanegra, and Die Meistersinger.