Kyle Ketelsen
Biography

American bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is in regular demand by the world's leading opera companies and orchestras for his vibrant and handsome stage presence and his distinctive vocalism. His exciting 2011/2012 season began with Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s Japanese tour as Escamillo in Carmen, sponsored by Fuji TV. He appears on the stage of the Houston Grand Opera as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and as Don Fernando in Fedelio, at the Metropolitan Opera as Mr. Flint in Billy Budd, and at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro. His concert appearances include Brahms’ Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony and the Detroit Symphony, a concert version of Fidelio with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall, as well as a holiday program with the Madison Symphony.

In the 2010/11 season Mr. Ketelsen appeared in his trademark role of Escamillo with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Bayrische Staatsoper, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. He returned to the Canadian Opera Company in a role debut as Alidoro in Cenerentola, and appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of their new music director Riccardo Muti in Hector Berlioz’s Lélio in Chicago as well as at Carnegie Hall. He was also featured in duo recital under the auspices of the George London Foundation with Elizabeth Futral.

During the 2009/2010 season he returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to perform his renowned Figaro, as well as Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, both conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. He made his role debut as Nick Shadow in Covent Garden’s Robert Lepage production of The Rake’s Progress conducted by Ingo Metzmacher. He made his debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Leporello in a new Dmitri Tcherniakov production Don Giovanni conducted by Louis Langrée.

Kyle Ketelsen has garnered great critical acclaim for his portrayals with the major American theaters, as well as theaters around the world. He made his Covent Garden debut as the Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte under Mackerras, where he has returned as Henrik in Carl Nielsen’s Maskarade in a new production by David Pountney, and in as Leporello in Don Giovanni under Sir Charles Mackerras. He made his debut with Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa as Figaro, a role he later performed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. His Lyric Opera of Chicago debut was as Masetto in a new production of Don Giovanni conducted by Christoph Eschenbach and directed by Peter Stein with a cast including Bryn Terfel, Karita Mattila and Susan Graham. In recent seasons, he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, as Escamillo in Carmen with the San Francisco Opera, the title role of Don Giovanni for his debut with the Minnesota Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni for his debuts with Los Angeles Opera and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Mozart’s Figaro for his New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Opera Pacific debuts, the role of Leporello with Royal Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and Michigan Opera Theater, his debut at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam in Carmen, the four villains in a new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann for his debut at the Hamburg State Opera, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Madison Opera, Escamillo in Carmen with Covent Garden, Washington National Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theater, the Teatro Real, Madrid, and Orlando Opera, and his debut performances of Gounod's Mephistopheles in Faust with Michigan Opera Theater and later with the Minnesota Opera. Other roles in Washington include Oroveso in Norma , the Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte and the Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Abimelech in Samson et Dalila. He has also sung Colline in La Boheme with Opera Pacific, Michigan Opera Theater and in St. Louis. Other repertoire includes Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Ferrando in Il Trovatore.

In concert, Kyle Ketelsen has collaborated with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Berlioz’s Lélio, de Falla's El Retablo del Maese Pedro, and Kaija Saariaho’s Cinq reflets au l’Amour de loin, and with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. He made debuts with the St. Louis Symphony in Messiah under David Robertson, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella under the baton of Pierre Boulez, and with the Seattle Symphony in Mozart’s Requiem under Itzhak Perlman.Among others, he has performed with the Orchestre National de France, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and numerous other organizations throughout the Midwest. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with Haydn's Creation with the Oratorio Society of New York and repeated this work with Music of the Baroque in Chicago. His concert repertoire also includes the Verdi Requiem, Brahms Deutsches Requiem, Handel Messiah, Fauré Requiem, Dvorák Te Deum, the Bach St. Matthew and St. John Passions and the Mozart C-Minor Mass. Among the newest additions to his concert repertoire is Mahler's Eighth Symphony in Madison under John DeMain and Haydn’s Harmoniemesse under Franz Welser-Möst in Cleveland.

Mr. Ketelsen has won First Prize in several international vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation (Career Grant), the George London Foundation, the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, the Sullivan Foundation, Opera Index, the MacAllister Awards, Fort Worth Opera, National Opera Association, Connecticut Opera and the Liederkranz Foundation.

Kyle Ketelsen is a native of Clinton, Iowa. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa where he studied with Albert Gammon and did his graduate studies at Indiana University where he studied with Giorgio Tozzi. He currently resides in Wisconsin with his wife and children.

Date Last Edited: 27th September 2011