Former Seagle Festival Artists are now performing in opera houses throughout the United States and across the world including The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and many others. Other former artists have had leading Broadway roles and many are teaching vocal arts and theatre related subjects at the college level.
Many former artists keep in touch via subscription to our online newsletter, the Seagle Chronicle.
Spotlight on Eric Ferring, tenor
Eric Ferring, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, is an alum of Drake University and The Boston Conservatory under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom. He was an artists at Seagle Festival from 2011 to 2013 where audiences will remember him in the roles of Antony in Sweeney Todd, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and the title role in Albert Herring. He is a graduate of the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program and the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
This season, Mr. Ferring will make numerous Metropolitan Opera debuts, including performing Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Pong in Turandot, and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor. Mr. Ferring is also scheduled to perform at Santa Fe Opera in the summers of 2022 and 2023. Mr. Ferring will release his solo debut album, No Choice but Love, under the Delos Records label in the winter of 2022.
Last season, Mr. Ferring was scheduled for an anticipated debut with Santa Fe Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, as well as his company debuts in the same role with North Carolina Opera, New Orleans Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. Mr. Ferring was also slated to perform Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Grant Park Music Festival and understudy Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) at The Metropolitan Opera this spring, but sadly, due to COVID-19, these productions/concerts were cancelled. Mr. Ferring did perform this season as Walther in Tannhaüser at Opéra de Rouen Normandie, and in concert, Mr. Ferring joined the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for Händel’s Messiah in December.
In the 2019-2020 season, Mr. Ferring returned to the Ensemble of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Performances during the season included Older Brother in Dead Man Walking and Tchaplitsky in Queen of Spades while covering Count Almaviva in Il barbière di Siviglia, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Major Domo in Queen of Spades.
Performances during the 2018-2019 season at Lyric include his principal role appearance as Lurcanio in Ariodante with Maestro Harry Bicket, for which the Chicago Tribune declared him “the most noteworthy solo breakthrough of the production,” as well as the Young Servant in Elektra and both Gastone/Giuseppe in La traviata.
During his two seasons (2016-2018) as a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist, Mr. Ferring performed multiple roles including The Protagonist in the world premiere of Ashes & Snow (now known as Savage Winter) in collaboration with American Opera Projects, Flask in Moby-Dick, and Nemorino in L’elisir d’Amore. Mr. Ferring was an Apprentice Singer at Santa Fe Opera where he covered Oronte in Alcina and was awarded the Richard Tucker Memorial Scholarship.
In addition, Mr. Ferring received Third Prize in the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup, First Place in the 2020 Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Voice Competition through the National Society of Arts and Letter, Top Prize in the 2019 American Opera Society of Chicago competition, recipient of a 2018 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, as well as a Career Grant from the Sullivan Foundation, Third Prize in the 2017 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, and a Regional Encouragement Award at the 2017 Great Lakes Region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2015, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presented Mr. Ferring a career award from the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Artists given in recognition of his great vocal potential.
Mr. Ferring is managed by Fletcher Artist Management. For further materials and updates, please visit Mr. Ferring’s website at ericferring.com or his professional Facebook page.
Here are some other former Seagle Festival aritsts to watch for:
Javier Abreu, tenor (2000, 01) – website
Michael Adams, baritone (2012-13) – website
Alissa Anderson, mezzo-soprano (2002-04) – website
Vanessa Becerra, soprano (2011-2012) – website
David Blalock, tenor (2008, 2009) – website
Ryan Bowie, tenor (2004-2007) – website
Seth Mease Carico, bass-baritone (2002, 03, 04) – website
Andrea Carroll, soprano (2009, 10) – website
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor (2013) – website
Hailey Clark, soprano (2009, 10) – website
Eric Ferring, tenor (2011-13) – website
Jonas Hacker, tenor (2011-12) – website
Anna Mandina (Bridgeman), soprano (2013-14) – website
David Margulis, tenor (2010) – website
Wes Mason, baritone (2005-08) – website
Ian McEuen, tenor (2011) – website
Matt Morgan, tenor (1999) – website
Alicia Olatuja (Myles) (2001-02) – website
Sean Panikkar, tenor (2002) – website
Michael Porter, tenor (2010, 11) – website
Anthony Reed, bass (2010-11) – website
Megan Samarin, mezzo-soprano (2013) – website
Reginald Smith, Jr. (2010) – website
Jack Swanson, tenor (2012-2013) – website
Christopher Temporelli, bass-baritone (2001, 02) – website
Wm. Clay Thompson, bass (2013-14) – website
Mack Wolz, mezzo-soprano (2016) – website
