American Tenor Simeon Esper joined the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden in the 2010/11 season. As a soloist there he has been featured in a variety of roles including Ein Tanzmeister Ariadne auf Naxos, Flamand Capriccio, Dmitri Boris Godunov, Ein Steuermann Der Fliegende Holländer, ein junge Seemann/Hirt Tristan und Isolde, Walther von der Vogelweide Tannhäuser, Oronte Alcina, Sam Kaplan Street Scene, Dawson in Henze’s We Come to the River, Jaquino Fidelio and Comus in Purcell’s King Arthur.
After completing his Master’s studies at Florida State University, Esper was engaged with the Theater Bielefeld from 2004 to 2007. Engagements with European houses such as the Operá National de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, The Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Paris Operá Comique, Operá Rouen, Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, Bonn, Wexford (Ireland), Halle and Cologne followed. In the United States, he has appeared with the Seattle Opera (including covering the role of Loge in Der Ring des Nibelungen), The Atlanta Opera, the Bellingham Festival of Music and the San Diego Opera, where he was most recently heard as Bardolfo in Verdi’s Falstaff.
Esper’s concert repertoire includes Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Orff’s Catulli Carmina, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. In January of 2016, he was featured as Tenor Soloist in the German Premiere of Magreb’s Requiem for Auschwitz in Dresden’s Frauenkirche. He can also be heard in the role of ein Junge Diener on Deutsche Grammophone’s Grammy-nominated recording of Elektra under Christian Thielemann.
Highlights of the 2017/18 season at the Semperoper Dresden included the role of Hylas in a new production of Berlioz’ Les Troyens, as well as the premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor in the role of Arturo Bucklaw and the role of Clifford Bradshaw in Cabaret. Additionally, Simeon Esper sang the role of ein Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and made his debut at the Bregenzer Festspiele as Remendado in Carmen.
Upcoming engagements include concert performances of Puccini’s Il Tabarro with the Dresden Philharmonic, a debut with the Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken as Boni in Die Czárdásfürstin and the role of Abdallo in Dresden’s upcoming new production of Nabucco with Plácido Domingo.
