Dane Suarez
Praised for his “big, heroic voice” (LA Weekly) and “powerful emotions,” tenor Dane Suarez (he/him) has developed an exciting and varied career. His 2021-2022 season includes a return to Opera Memphis starring as the tortured Canio in a new production of Pagliacci; his debut as Manrico (Il trovatore) and a jump-in as Lensky (Eugene Onegin) with Opera in the Heights; a reprisal of Scalia (Scalia/Ginsburg) with both Penn Square Music Festival and Opera in the Heights, company debuts as Rodolfo with Opera Birmingham and Newport Classical, and his role and company debuts as Pollione in Norma with Festival Opera. He was seen in concert for a recital with wife Kerriann Otaño for Il Cenacolo Club of San Francisco, a debut with New Jersey Festival Orchestra for The Three Holiday Tenors concert, a return to Maryland Opera for a livestreamed concert entitled Variant Valentine, and a return to his alma mater (Butler University) as guest Tenor Soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. This fall, Dane made his Off-Broadway debut in Kate Tarker’s world premiere play Montag at Soho Rep and joined OperaDelaware, Heartbeat Opera, and Maryland Opera for concert and gala performances. Upcoming, he returns to New Jersey Festival Orchestra to sing Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), debuts The Carolina Philharmonic for A Night at the Opera, covers Apollo (Daphne) with American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, covers Luigi (Il tabarro) and sings Song Seller with On Site Opera, and reprises Don José in Carmen with Festival Opera.
In the winter of 2020, Mr. Suarez returned to West Bay Opera to perform the role of Macduff in their production of Macbeth. For the remainder of the 2020 season, he was scheduled to reprise the role of Rodolfo in La bohème with Fort Worth Opera (COVID19), perform the title role in Faust with Opera Neo (COVID19) and make his role debut as Manrico in Il trovatore with Opera in the Heights (COVID19). In the summer of 2020, Mr. Suarez was thrilled to perform the role of First Armored Man in Opera Neo’s innovative digital production of The Magic Flute. For 2020-2021, Mr. Suarez debuted with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for their holiday concert, returned to Opera Memphis as Scalia in Derrick Wang’s acclaimed Scalia/Ginsburg, returned to Maryland Opera for a livestreamed concert, and was scheduled to perform the role of Don José in Carmen with Festival Opera, (the aforementioned production postponed to 2023.)
Mr. Suarez’s 2019 season included his role and house debut as Fenton in Falstaff with West Bay Opera, a return to Opera Neo to perform the role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin where he was hailed by critics as “a vocal tour de force of surpassing splendor,” a return to Opera San José as Greenhorn in Moby-Dick, reprising the role of Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Baltimore Concert Opera, and his mainstage debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera San José.
In 2018, Mr. Suarez reprised the roles of Don José in Carmen and Rodolfo in La bohème AKA “The Hipsters” with Pacific Opera Project where the Act I duet was described as “a transfixing moment of sublime beauty.” He sang the title role in Idomeneo with Opera Neo and joined Opera San José as a Resident Artist in 2017, where his role responsibilities included Ruggero in La rondine, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Alfredo in La traviata, and Canio in Pagliacci. During the 2016-17 season, Mr. Suarez made his New York City Opera debut in his “completely winning” performance as Joe in La fanciulla del West, Rodolfo in his debut with Pacific Opera Project, and was a Studio Artist with Sarasota Opera where he covered Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and performed Flaminio in L’amore dei tre re where he was subsequently awarded the Mandelker Award for Outstanding Studio Artist. He returned to Fort Worth Opera for their 2017 Frontiers Showcase, and to Opera Memphis for 30 Days of Opera. Mr. Suarez was pictured on the front page of The Arts section of The New York Times and lauded for his “beautiful, soaring, and moving” performance as Cavaradossi in LoftOpera’s production of Tosca that “brought down the house.”
Mr. Suarez made his John F. Kennedy Center debut in 2015 with Washington National Opera as Ely Parker in Philip Glass’s Appomattox. Other past credits include joining Opera Memphis as Don José in La tragédie de Carmen and Beppe in Pagliacci, a run with Crested Butte Music Festival as Rodolfo, his role debut as Il Duca in Rigoletto at Opera in the Heights, his Fort Worth Opera debut as Marcellus in Thomas’s Hamlet, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mr. Splinters in The Tender Land, and Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor all with Opera North, his debut as Don José as well as a turn as Shuisky alongside Eric Owens in the Coronation Scene from Boris Godunov with Aspen Music Festival, and Henrik in A Little Night Music at the late Loren Maazel’s Castleton Festival.
A skilled recitalist and concert performer, highlights include performances with Permian Basin Opera, Annapolis Opera, and Maryland Opera and appearances as a featured artist in concert with The Loren L. Zachary Society and Il Cenacolo Club of San Francisco. Mr. Suarez was a 2014 National Semi-Finalist of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has been recognized and awarded by multiple organizations, most recently as a Finalist in Tri-Cities Opera’s TCO Next Virtual Competition, as well as The Loren L. Zachary Society for the Performing Arts as a Semi-Finalist, the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition as a Finalist, Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition as a Semi-Finalist, Sarasota Opera with the afore mentioned Mandelker Award in 2017, Brava! Opera Theater Vocal Competition as a Finalist, The Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition as a Semi-Finalist, the Beethoven Club of Memphis as First Place winner, the Bel Canto Foundation’s Bella Voce Award, and Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc. Talent of the Year award.
Mr. Suarez holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Butler University and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
More at danesuarez.com.