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The American baritone and voice educator, Matthew Worth, the child of two elementary school teachers, first musical love was jazz, and he played the trombone through college. He obtained his Bachlor of Arts degree in from the University of Richmond, and his Master of Music degree in Voice from the Manhattan School of Music and is a Juilliard Opera Center graduate.
Hailed by The New York Times for a voice that is “fully powered and persuasively expressive”, Matthew Worth is quickly becoming the baritone of choice for innovative productions and contemporary works on the operatic leading edge. In 2013 he created the role of Father Flynn in the world premiere of Doubt at Minnesota Opera (January-February 2013). The Pioneer Press raved, “Matthew Worth matches her [soprano Christine Brewer as Sister Aloysius] with a note-perfect performance as Father Flynn. A baritone asked to traverse a tremendous expanse in this role, both musically and in characterization, Worth makes him complex and fascinating, charismatic and conflicted.” He returned to Minnesota Opera in the 2014-2015 season as Sergeant Raymond Shaw in the world premiere of The Manchurian Candidate (March 2015), the second opera from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, and makes his Chautauqua Opera debut in summer of 2015 as the title role in Eugene Onegin (July-August 2015)
The European premiere of that duo’s Silent Night features Matthew as Lieutenant Audebert in his European debut with Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland. The 2014-2015 season also included a world premiere song cycle by Gregg Kallor, Zurga in Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers with Dayton Opera, and Carmina burana with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Louis Langrée. In fall 2015, he joined composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek for a first look at JFK, the eagerly anticipated new opera slated to premiere at Fort Worth Opera in April 2016. Future seasons also include Naga, a world premiere with Beth Morrison Projects.
In the 2013-2014 season, Matthew Worth debuted as Starbuck in the East Coast premiere of Moby-Dick with Washington National Opera (February-March 2014), as Sam in Trouble in Tahiti with the Festival del Sole, and joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Leonard Bernstein's Candide at Tanglewood (August 2014). He also returned to Pittsburgh Opera as the title character in Philip Glass’s Orphée (November 2012), a role he debuted at Virginia Opera, with Opera News writing, “Matthew Worth enacted the title part to the hilt. Tall, rangy and virile, he emerged fully worthy of his adoring fans.”
Also lauded for his work in the standard operatic repertoire, Matthew Worth's Guglielmo in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte (March 2013) was deemed “vocally impeccable … open and incisive” by the Boston Classical Review. Other notable roles include Figaro in G. Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (November 2012), Mercutio in Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette), Valentin in Charles Gounod's Faust (July-August 2011), Harlequin in R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (November-December 2011), and Tarquinius in Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (April 2013). He has performed leading roles at Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Castleton Festival, Tanglewood Festival, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, under such luminary conductors as James Levine, Lorin Maazel, and Sir Andrew Davis.
Matthew Worth is a committed recitalist and active concert soloist. In 2013, he performed Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe and Gustav Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and was praised by the New York Times as “simply superb, singing with exquisite sensitivity”. His ongoing collaboration with pianist Tyson Deaton includes a program of American classics. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist in Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem under James DePriest while still a student at the Juilliard Opera Center. He made his Alice Tully Hall debut with the Richmond Choral Society in Carmina Burana, a piece he also performed under Robert Spano with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has been featured in concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra, and has performed with conductors Donald Runnicles and James Conlon.
Highlights of recent seasons include the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Boston Lyric Opera, the premiere and recording of the Narrator in Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua, (which later won a GRAMMY for Best Choral Performance)
Matthew Worth teaches Applied Lessons and Vocal Performance Lab at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. (since July 2019). He lives in the Bay Area with his son Fenton, daughter Everly, and their dog Abby. He enjoys hiking, listening to podcasts, and exploring national parks with his kids. |
