Recognized internationally as one of the leading singing actors today, American bass-baritone Alan Held has appeared in major roles in the world's finest opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Washington National Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, Munich State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Netherlands Opera, and Theatre Royal de la Monnaie. His many roles include Wotan in the Wagner's Ring Cycle, Leporello in Don Giovanni, the Four Villains in Les Contes d'Hoffman, Jochanaan in Salome, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, Don Pizzaro in Fidelio, Orestes in Elektra, Balstrode in Peter Grimes and the title role in Wozzeck.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Held has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Kirov Opera Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. He also recently appeared at the BBC Proms in televised performances of Elektra with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

He has worked with many distinguished conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, James Levine, Sir Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Franz Welser-M�st, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Jeffrey Tate.

Last season, Mr. Held was heard on tour in Japan in the Salzburg Festival's production of Fidelio, at the Vienna State Opera as the Four Villains, the Washington Opera as the High Priest in Samson et Dalila, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago in their performances of the Ring Cycle and Fidelio. He also appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concert performances of Tristan und Isolde (Walt Disney Concert Hall) and G�tterd�mmerung (Hollywood Bowl). He repeated the performance of G�tterd�mmerung at the Tanglewood Festival.

This season, Mr. Held returns to the Paris Opera for performances of Cardillac, the Metropolitan Opera for the title role in Wozzeck and Don Pizzaro, and Bilbao for performances of Leporello. He also appears with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and will be heard in recital at Wolf Trap.

A native of Washburn, Illinois, Mr. Held received his vocal training at Millikin University and Wichita State University. He is a recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Birgit Nilsson Prize. Mr. Held is also noted as a clinician and has regularly given master classes at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

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