Brett Sprague

The 2023/2024 season for American tenor Brett Sprague began with an exciting slate of debuts. Mr. Sprague began his fifth year in the ensemble at Theater Erfurt by portraying the tortured title character in Benjamin Britten's masterpiece, Peter Grimes. He made his Semperoper Dresden debut in the title role of Les contes d’Hoffmann. He then debuted in the Wagnerian repertoire with the role of Loge in Das Rheingold, both in Erfurt and at the Croatian National Theater in Rijeka. Concert appearances include Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen in Switzerland, Verdi’s Requiem in Erfurt, and a solo recital featuring the compositions of Benjamin Britten. At the conclusion of the 23/24 season, he will join the ensemble of the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, beginning his engagement with the role of Mark in Ethel Smyth’s opera, The Wreckers.

Mr. Sprague’s previous highlights in Erfurt include the world premiere of Nestor Taylor's opera Eleni, where he sang the role of renowned author and journalist Nicholas Gage, and the title role of Orestes in Felix Weingartner's rediscovered dramatic opera, last performed over 110 years ago. Orestes was a finalist nominee for the International Opera Awards. Other productions included Le siège de Corinthe (Rossini) as Néoclès, Elektra (Strauss) as ein junger Diener, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach) in the title role of Hoffmann, the world premiere of Mio mein Mio (Leipold) as Mios Vater, Manon Lescaut (Puccini) as Edmondo, In the Penal Colony (Glass) as the Visitor, "Die Rache der Fledermaus" (a new take on Johann Strauss's famous operetta) as Alfred, and Nabucco (Verdi) as Ismaele, Orleanskaya deva (Tchaikovsky) as King Charles VII, Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck) as Die Knusperhexe, Don Pasquale (Donizetti) as Ernesto, and Das Märchen vom Zaren Zaltan (Rimsky-Korsakov) as Prinz Gwidon.

In 2019/2020 Mr. Sprague began his work in Germany with a new production of Der junge Lord (Henze) in the role of Lord Barrat with the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, followed by a production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart) performing Pedrillo with the Thüringer Schlossfestspiele.

In addition to his operatic pursuits in Europe, Mr. Sprague is gaining acclaim for his performance as a concert soloist, most recently in Carmina Burana with the National Philarmonic Orchestra of Poland in Warsaw, the Gӧteborgs Symfoniker, and the Tampere Filharmonia, as well as Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with the Jena Philharmonie, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Philharmonisches Orchester Erfurt.

Before moving to Europe in 2019, Mr. Sprague had been performing across the United States, often called upon for the creation and production of contemporary operas. Highlights include the world premiere of Happy Birthday Wanda June (Clark) as Herb Shuttle and the American premiere of Mansfield Park (Dove) as Henry Crawford with Indianapolis Opera, the workshop of The Scarlet Letter (Laitman) with Opera Colorado and the development of a new opera with OnSite Opera in New York. Additionally, he has performed Laurie in Little Women (Adamo) with Eugene Opera. He is also very comfortable with the classic repertoire, having performed many different roles spanning the gamut of musical periods and styles, including Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) at Opera Colorado and Antinoüs in Pénélope (Faure) with Vespertine Opera. Mr. Sprague received his professional training as a resident artist at Opera Colorado during the 2014 and 2014/2015 seasons. Performance highlights include Tamino and Erster Geharnischter in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Don José and Remendado in Carmen (Bizet), and Borsa in Rigoletto (Verdi). He was also covered the role Il Duca in Rigoletto (Verdi). He spent two summer seasons as a young artist with Chautauqua Opera. He received his Masters of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in 2012 and his Bachelors of Music degree from Chapman University in 2010.

Mr. Sprague is the recipient of numerous awards from institutions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Seattle Opera Guild, the Anita Cerquetti Competition, the CareerBridges organization, and the Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition at Manhattan School of Music.