Described by the New York Times as “passionate and sonorous”, the American baritone David Pershall has quickly established himself on international concert stages. In the current season, he will sing the Falcon in Johann Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus” at the Chemnitz Theatre and returns to the Metropolitan Opera in New York as a cover for Cirillo in “Fedora”.
Last season, his cover contract for Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera, a U.S. tour of Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast” with the Yale Philharmonia, and concerts of Szymanowsky’s “Stabat Mater“ with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC and in Edinburg conducted by Gianandrea Noseda fell victim to the corona crisis.
In 2020-21, David Pershall appeared as Figaro in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with San Diego Opera, Silvio in “I Pagliacci” with Greensboro Opera, and Papageno at the Teatre Principal in Mallorca.
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2015 in the role of Figaro in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and then returned as Schaunard in “La Bohème” and Lord Cecil in “Maria Stuarda”.
From 2014-2016, David Pershall was an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera, where he sang roles such as Figaro in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sharpless in “Madama Butterfly”, Lescaut in “Manon Lescaut” and Sebastian in “The Tempest”.
In recent years he has sung important roles in his field such as Marcello in “La Bohème” at Vero Beach Opera, Finger Lakes Opera and under Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla at the Salzburg Landestheater, Lescaut in Massenet’s “Manon” at San Francisco Opera, Papageno at Washington National Opera, Figaro at Florida Grand Opera, Belcore in “L’Elisir d’Amore2 at Minnesota Opera, Zurga in “Les pêcheurs de perles” at Virginia Opera, Conte di Luna in “Il Trovatore” at Sarasota Opera, Conte Almaviva in “Le nozze di Figaro” at Boston Lyric Opera, Eisenstein in “Die Fledermaus” at Des Moines Metro Opera, Schaunard in at Norwegian National Opera, and Rodrigo in “Don Carlo” at Oper Burg Gars in Austria.
David Pershall also worked with the prestigious Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland, where he sang the roles of Orestes in “Iphigénie en Tauride” and Manfredo in “L’Amore dei Tre Re”. Pershall also appeared at Carnegie Hall as Lord Nottingham in Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux” with Maestra Eve Queller.
David has also made a name for himself as a concert singer, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Yale School of Music. He was the baritone soloist in “Carmina Burana” with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and in A Sea Symphony with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. His debut recital with the San Francisco Opera was praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as “wonderful to experience.”
David Pershall has won first prizes in several international competitions, including the George London Award, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Jensen Foundation, the Marcello Giordani Foundation, the New Jersey Verismo Competition, the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, and the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice. He is also the winner of several other prestigious competitions including The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Giulio Gari Foundation, the Opera Index Competition, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the National Bel Canto Vocal Competition.
David Pershall received his training at the Yale School of Music and is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and the Virginia Opera Resident Artist Program.
09/2022
