Hailed by Opera News for his “handsome sound,” and described as a “standout” by the Wall Street Journal, tenor Derrek Stark is quickly establishing a reputation as an elegant performer with nuanced and stylish singing. Despite many COVID-19 cancellations, Mr. Stark returned to the stage for the 2020-2021 season with a house premiere at Opera Tampa singing Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Following these successful performances, Mr. Stark repeated the role with Eugene Opera later that summer. In 2022, Mr. Stark returned to Eugene Opera singing Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, made a house debut with Gulfshore Opera singing Alfredo in Die Fledermaus, and reprised the role of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Tampa.
This summer, Mr. Stark will sing as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, and will be heard as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Bar Harbor Music Festival. Previous season highlights include the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier with Opernhaus Zürich, Alfredo in La traviata with Palm Beach Opera, and Arturo in La straniera with Teatro Nuovo at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has also been heard as Giasone in Medea in Corinto, Rodolfo in La bohème, The Governor in Candide, Harry in La fanciulla del West with Santa Fe Opera, Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Fenton in Falstaff.
Equally at home in concert repertoire, Mr. Stark has performed with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, the Boise Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in repertoire ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, to Orff’s Carmina Burana and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle. Mr. Stark won second place in the Giulio Gari International Voice Competition, third place in the Opera Columbus Cooper-Bing Competition, 3rd place in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, and is a 2018 Sullivan Foundation Grant Winner. He has also received an encouragement award from the Gerda Lissner International Voice Competition, a Campbell/Wachter Scholarship from Santa Fe Opera, and a Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Foundation award. Stark is an alumnus of many prestigious training programs including Santa Fe Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. He holds a B.M. from Mansfield University, PA, and a M.M. from The Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University.
Photo: Hank Henley