Tracey Welborn, tenor
Tenor Tracey Welborn performed with the Welsh National Opera in a new production of The Merry Widow which was taped for television in 2005-06. He recently made his Bayerische Staatsoper debut in the title role of Roberto Devereux opposite Edita Gruberova. 2004-05 began with New York City Opera's Rondine and a Richmond Merry Widow with Virginia Opera as well as concerts with the Richmond Symphony. He sang the title role in Washington Concert Opera's Roberto Devereux last year with "shining tones that rang effortlessly high and clear" and just prior Lyon's new Pelleas et Melisande. He also returned to Lausanne for a new Traviata last fall. He performed the title role in a new production of Offenbach's Bluebeard for Glimmerglass in 2003 and Eisenstein in Virginia Opera's new Fledermaus. He was back in Pittsburgh for their season-opening La Cenerentola and performed in Lausanne's new Beatrice et Benedict in 2002. He performed in Pittsburgh Opera's Street Scene and debuted at the Chatelet in Paris in La Belle Hélène last year. In 2001 he performed his first Nadir for Portland Opera's Les Pecheurs de Perles and was the tenor lead Paris in Portland Opera's new Belle Hélène and appeared in Hong Kong with the Los Angeles Opera production of La Cenerentola. Just prior he performed the Britten War Requiem with the Richmond Symphony and Faust et Hélène with the Birmingham Symphony under Mark Minkowski. He began 2000-01 performing the lead tenor role in Opera Geneve's Beatrix Cenci. He sang a "ringing Pylade" in Iphigenie et Tauride in Charleston's Spoleto USA and "sang ardently" as Zampa in New York's Alice Tully Hall for Opera Francaise. In 2000 he performed the title role in Bologna's new Pelléas followed by an appearance in New York in a RICHARD TUCKER CONCERT. The prior fall had his debut as Alfred in Dallas Opera's Fledermaus and debuted in Antwerp in the title role of Rameau's Platée, having performed this role in his Opera de Paris debut in 1999.
Other career highlights have included: Aix en Provence for L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Tokyo for Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Shinsei Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl in concerts of Bernstein, the Teatro Comunale, Bologna in Don Pasquale, the BBC Symphony for the Covent Garden Festival (European broadcast), Prokoviev's Betrothal in a Convent at the Grand Opera de Genève and performed the title role at the Teatro Regio Torino's Candide. In fall 1997 he made his debut in Japan in a series of concerts. His debut in Torino was just prior in the title role of Roberto Devereux. He debuted at the Spoleto Festival, Italia in 1996 as Jupiter in Semele. A native of North Carolina, he was a recipient of The Richard Tucker Foundation's Jacobson Grant, winner of the fourth Opera Company of Philadelphia/Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition.
In recent seasons Mr, Welborn has performed with the Pittsburgh Opera as Ferrando Cosi, Paris in Offenbach's La Belle Hélène with Scottish Opera, Belmonte in Die Entführung and Lindoro in L'Italiana for Utah, Ernesto in Don Pasquale and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for the Canadian Opera, and Orphée in Gluck's Orphée and Eurydice at the Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg. Other highlights have included the world-premiere at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Glimmerglass of Carlson's The Midnight Angel, and Pylade in Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride in Strasbourg. Mr. Welborn is also well-known for his variety of orchestral/oratorio repertoire. He has sung with the many symphony orchestras including: San Francisco, Baltimore, Phoenix, Minnesota, BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony.
