'A Night at the Opera' featuring Baritone Jonathan Hays

Event Sponsor: The Tiemens Group at Morgan Stanley, Dr. Susan Rae Jensen & Mr. Tom Trainer and Nicole de Naray

Venue Sponsors: Victoria Boswell, Catherine Creppon, Barb Gazibara and Connie Raub

Accompanist Sponsors: Michael & Karen McDivitt and Marga Nelsen

About Jonathan

In the 2019-2020 season, Mr. Hays will debut with the Piedmont Opera as Giorgio Talbot in Maria Stuarda, return to Syracuse Opera as Dr. Pangloss in Candide, and perform the monodrama Truth and Reconciliation (Mel Marvin/Jonathan Levi) with American Opera Projects at Opera America. In recital at Dickinson College, he will sing Robert Pound’s song cycle Orbit of the Soul about the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, the recording of which was released by Roven Records and Naxos USA in October of 2018. Colin Clarke of Fanfare Magazine wrote of the recording: “The present performance with baritone seems to hold a particular pathos. Perhaps that is due to Jonathan Hays’s superb interpretation: Technical aspects such as diction and pitching are so superbly managed that one’s attention is fully focused on Pound’s narrative. This is a positively revelatory release” (Mar/Apr 2019). In concert, Mr. Hays will be heard in the Brahms Liebesliederwaltzer with Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg, PA as part of Stuart Malina’s 20th Anniversary celebration at the Harrisburg Symphony.

Recently, Mr. Hays has been heard as Donald in Billy Budd with Central City Opera, Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore and Maximilian in Candide with Anchorage Opera, Denis Krude in Crude Capital with Beth Morrison Projects, Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum in Threepenny Opera at Syracuse Opera, the Narrator in the world premiere of My Friend’s Story at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and as the protagonist in the monodrama An die fernen Geliebten at National Sawdust. He performed with pianist Jeremy Gill at the Museo Chiossione in Genoa, Italy with the Bogliasco Foundation and Associazione Culturale Pasquale Anfossi, as the baritone soloist in Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D minor with the Harrisburg Symphony, and with pianist David Friend at the Hartt School on the James Sellars Memorial Concert.

Highlights of previous seasons include the role of Shadow Grendel in the world premiere of Grendel in a co-production with Los Angeles Opera and the Lincoln Center Festival, and the title role of Isaiah Berlin in Guest from the Future at the Summerscape Festival. Hays has been hailed by Opera Magazine for his “commanding authority” and “sheer vocal excellence” in the Mozart repertoire. He has sung Don Giovanni with Cape Town Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Syracuse Opera, and Chattanooga Opera; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Greensboro Opera, Cape Town Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Opera Roanoke, and the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Portland Opera, Central City Opera, and Connecticut Opera; and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Bel Canto at Caramoor, Eugene Opera, Yale Opera, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Other notable performances include Achilla in Giulio Cesare with Washington National Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Opera de la Colombia, Taddeo in L’Italiana in Algeri with Central City Opera, Don Fernando in Fidelio and Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with the Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra, Donner in Das Rheingold with the Eos Orchestra, and Fenice in Deidamia and Fernando in La gazza ladra for Bel Canto at Caramoor.

Mr. Hays has performed in concert with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Boston Musica Viva, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Alabama Symphony, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. His recording of Jeremy Gill’s Helian for Albany Records ranked fourth on Philadelphia City Paper’s list of Top 10 Classical Albums of 2011. Peter Burwasser of Fanfare Magazine wrote of the disc: “Jonathan Hays conveys the words, not just the music, with intelligence and careful diction, not to mention a splendidly lush baritone.” Also in 2011, Hays was presented with the Big Easy Foundation’s award for Best Performance of New Classical Music for his recital An Unquiet Spirit. His performance of Henry Cowell’s Atlantis with the American Symphony Orchestra is available on iTunes and emusic.com. He holds opera degrees from the Yale School of Music (M.M.) and the Hartt School of Music (B.M.). He is on the Voice Faculty of the Hartt School, and has served on the voice faculties of Dickinson College, Susquehanna University and Brooklyn College and Conservatory of Music.