Ben Bliss in Recital

From: Prairie Village, Kansas. LA Opera: Benvolio in Roméo et Juliette (2011, debut) with numerous subsequent appearances including Tamino in The Magic Flute (2016) and as a soloist in St. Matthew Passion (2022). He was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program (2011-13). 

Hailed as a “truly exceptional tenor” by the National Review, Ben Bliss is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting performers on today’s operatic stage, both in his native America and internationally. He has been cited as “an exemplar of the Mozartean tenor” for his “purity of tone, vocal control and artistic sensitivity” (Opera Warhorses).

His 2024/25 season includes two roles at the Metropolitan Opera—a debut as Eric in Jeanine Tesori's new opera Grounded and Tamino in The Magic Flute—as well as a return to the Opéra National de Paris as Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress and house debuts as Jupiter in Handel's Semele with both the Royal Opera House in London and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris. Concert engagements include performances with the Metropolitan Opera and Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Chamber Music Society Lincoln Center.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season include house debuts at the Opéra National de Paris as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and at the Vienna State Opera as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. He also had a role debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, performed as Tamino and as Pélléas in Pélléas et Mélisande with the Bayerische Staatsoper, and returned to the Canadian Opera Company as Don Ottavio. Outside of the opera house, he performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson-Thomas, and a recital with soprano Louise Adler at Wigmore Hall in London.

Learn more at BenBlissTenor.com.

From: Los Angeles, California. LA Opera: debut. An alumnus (2012-14) of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, he made his conducting debut in 2015 leading Hercules vs. Vampires.

Recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Christopher Allen was featured in Opera News as “one of the fastest-rising podium stars in North America.” He has conducted acclaimed operatic and symphonic performances with the Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, National Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Virginia Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, George Enescu Philharmonic, West Los Angeles Symphony, Cincinnati Opera, LA Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opera Omaha, Opéra de Montréal, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Washington National Opera, Detroit Opera, North Carolina Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Atlanta Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Daegu Opera House in South Korea, Korean Symphony Orchestra, and the China National Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Allen’s career was launched after winning the Bruno Walter Conducting Award and Memorial Career Grant and he has been fostered by Plácido Domingo and James Conlon, who brought him to LA Opera as an associate conductor. At LA Opera, Allen led the musical preparation for the acclaimed 2015 production of The Ghosts of Versailles, which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera. Recognized as a Musical America Artist of the Month and one of their “25 Stars Still Rising,” Allen is also an International Opera Awards nominee and a recent recipient of the Young Alumni Award from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Allen demonstrates his commitment to education through his work with young artists at LA Opera, Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aspen Music Festival and School, New England Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, A.J. Fletcher Institute at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has been heard on NPR speaking about the importance of the arts in American society. As an award-winning pianist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on film in La voix humaine, starring Patricia Racette and directed by James Darrah, and in Emily, a production he created for Opéra de Montréal and performed at Wolf Trap.

Allen’s artistic pursuits extend beyond his role as conductor. He is the creative and artistic director of Fourth Wall Ensemble, an innovative new vocal ensemble, which he founded in 2023 and whose recent and upcoming highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, a collaboration with Death of Classical featuring works by Monteverdi and Caroline Shaw’s Partita for 8 Voices, a series at Power Station at Berklee NYC, and a residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute. In 2024, Fourth Wall released two albums: Ad Manus and Awake, and was featured in Jeff Beal’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

‍Allen is a Recording Academy voting member, and serves on the Board of the Solti Foundation US.

Learn more at ChristopherGAllen.com.