This season, baritone Weston Hurt will make his debuts at the Seattle Opera as Germont in La Traviata and as Ford in Falstaff and with the Canadian Opera Company as Cecil in Maria Stuarda. He recently made his debuts at the Atlanta Opera as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, the Dallas Opera as Schaunard in La Bohéme, the Arizona Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and the Michigan Opera Theater as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro. Other recent engagements have included Sharpless and Frank in Die Tote Stadt at the New York City Opera, Baldassare in L’Arlesiana with the Opera Orchestra of New York, and a performance of Der ferne Klang with the American Symphony Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall.
Also a prolific concert singer and recitalist, Mr. Hurt has performed in recitals sponsored by the prestigious Marilyn Horne Foundation in the United States, and has also performed in concert internationally, including a South American tour of performances of the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem in the summer of 2006. This season, he made his debuts with the Nashville Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, and the Oratorio Society of New York in Carnegie Hall, and was presented again in recital by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. His large repertoire includes such works as the Handel Messiah, the Fauré Requiem, the Orff'Carmina Burana, the Bach Mass in B Minor and Magnificat, the Mozart Mass in C Minor and Coronation Mass, the Haydn Paukenmesse and the Britten War Requiem, which he sang at Carnegie Hall.
A graduate of the prestigious Julliard Opera Center, Mr. Hurt has received by many notable vocal awards, including 1st place and the People's Choice Award from the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, the Vienna Prize from the George London Foundation, 1st Place in the 2003 Oratorio Society of New York Competition, and various awards from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Competition, Liederkranz Foundation, Metropolitan Opera National Council, Opera Index, Inc., Palm Beach Opera Competition, and two career grants conferred by The Santa Fe Opera.