Dwayne Croft Baritone

The 1996 winner of the prestigious Richard Tucker Foundation Award, American baritone Dwayne Croft has established himself as a leading artist with prominent opera theaters throughout the world.

Since joining the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artist Development Program in 1989,
Mr. Croft has become a favorite artist of Metropolitan Opera audiences. He has appeared in more than 350 performances of 27 roles at the Metropolitan Opera, including performances of the title role in Billy Budd; Pelléas opposite Frederica von Stade in a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande; the title roles in Don Giovanni, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Eugene Onegin; Count Almaviva in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro; Giorgio Germont in La Traviata; his creation of the role of Nick Carraway in the world premiere of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby; Ernesto in the company premiere of Bellini's Il Pirata, Ford in Falstaff; Guglielmo in a new production of Cosi fan tutte; de Siriex in a new production of Fedora with Plácido Domingo and Mirella Freni; Valentin in Faust; Sharpless in a new production of Madama Butterfly; Marcello in La Bohème; Chorèbe in Les Troyens and Rodrigo, Marchese di Posa in Don Carlo. Dwayne Croft has participated in seven television broadcasts for the Metropolitan Opera including their productions of Billy Budd, Madama Butterfly and Fedora. On five occasions he has been invited to open the Metropolitan Opera season: in 2005 he participated in their opening gala concert; in 2002 he appeared as de Siriex in Act II of Fedora opposite Domingo and Freni; in 1999 he was seen as Silvio in I Pagliacci, also opposite Domingo; in 1994 he appeared as Silvio, opposite Teresa Stratas and Luciano Pavarotti; and in 1991 he was seen as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus.

In the 2009-2010 season, Dwayne Croft performs the title role of Eugene Onegin with Pittsburgh Opera, in addition to performances at the Met as Peter in Hansel & Gretel, Sonora in La Fanciulla del West, and Donner in Das Rheingold. Recent engagements include Germont in La Traviata with San Francisco Opera, a house debut with Dallas Opera as Marcello in La Bohème, and a role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with Cincinnati Opera.

Dwayne Croft is also familiar to audiences throughout Europe. He made his debut with the Vienna Staatsoper as Count Almaviva followed by performances as Don Giovanni and most recently the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia. His debut with the Salzburg Festival was also as Count Almaviva, and he returned for performances as Posa and Ford, and to create the protagonist's role of Jaufré Rudel in the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de Loin. Mr. Croft's first performances as Posa were with the Opéra de Paris after his successful appearance there in the title role of Eugene Onegin, and audiences in Paris soon saw him again in performances of the title role of Don Giovanni and as Sharpless in Bob Wilson's production of Madama Butterfly. Mr. Croft made his debut at Théâtre Musical de Paris, Châtelet in Takemitsu's My Way of Life. The role of Eugene Onegin was the vehicle for Mr. Croft's debut in Italy with Teatro la Fenice in Venice. Most recently he made his debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in performances of the title role in Billy Budd. Other successes in Europe include the baritone's debut with The Netherlands Opera as Posa in a new production of Don Carlo, performances as Mozart's Don at the Grand Théâtre Municipal de Bordeaux, and a German operatic debut as Guglielmo with the Cologne Opera, after which he was immediately re-engaged for his signature role of Eugene Onegin.

Dwayne Croft is equally well-known to audiences in North America. In addition to his work with the Metropolitan Opera, he appeared as Don Giovanni for his official debut with the Washington Opera in 1998, and he returned there for performances as Posa and Guglielmo and for acclaimed performances of the title role in Billy Budd. In 1995 the baritone made his unscheduled debut in Washington when he sang a matinee performance as Guglielmo at the Metropolitan Opera and boarded a private jet to Washington to appear that evening as Marcello, replacing an ailing colleague. Mr. Croft has appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Figaro in both Il barbiere di Siviglia and in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, and his debut with San Francisco Opera was as Ford. He was first seen with Los Angeles Opera as Don Giovanni, and he returned for performances as Germont and Silvio. He has appeared as Mozart's Don and Rossini's Barber with the Santa Fe Opera. His debut with Baltimore Opera was in the title role of Eugene Onegin, and audiences in Toronto first saw him with the Canadian Opera Company in performances as Count Almaviva. The baritone's debut in South America was in his first performances of Don Giovanni with the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Croft has also appeared in Japan as Pelléas opposite Teresa Stratas at the Saito Kinen Festival under the direction of Seiji Ozawa.

In 2005, Mr. Croft debuted at the BBC Proms with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony, conducted by Gerard Schwarz. In 2006, he made his debut with the St. Louis Symphony in Britten's War Requiem. His German concert debut was as Scherasmin in Weber's Oberon with the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne, conducted by James Conlon and recorded for EMI. In addition to the EMI Oberon recording, the baritone recorded for Decca the role of Lescaut in Manon Lescaut with Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti. For Philips he recorded Takemitsu's My Way of Life, for orchestra and baritone, with the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra led by Seiji Ozawa. He appeared in London's Royal Albert Hall for a “Pavarotti Plus” gala concert which was televised and recorded for Decca, and he returned to London for Royal Opera, Covent Garden's “Gold and Silver Anniversary Concert” honoring Plácido Domingo and recorded by EMI.

Date Last Edited: 15th July 2009