A Kansas native, Scott Conner has been lauded by critics and audiences for his appearances on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Conner’s warm, flexible voice and elegant stature brings proficiency in a wide range of repertoire, including Mozart, Rossini, Handel, Donizetti and Verdi. He is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts, and a Sara Tucker study grant winner from the Richard Tucker Foundation.
Scott Conner began the 2023-2024 season joining The Metropolitan Opera for its production of La bohème, returning to the stage for a performance of Colline. He also joins the Jacksonville Symphony for his role debut as Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen. During the summer, the bass makes a return to Santa Fe Opera as the Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier.
The bass’s previous season included a number of roles at the Metropolitan Opera, singing the Voice of Neptune in Idomeneo and returning to the role of the Police Commissioner in Robert Carsen’s acclaimed production of Der Rosenkavalier, as well as covering Colline in La bohème and Creonte in Medea. He made his Canadian Opera Company debut as the 2nd Soldier in Salome, and made his Handel and Haydn debut in a semi-staged Le nozze di Figaro, singing both Bartolo and Antonio. In May 2023, Mr. Conner made his Cleveland Orchestra debut as Ashby in La fanciulla del West before returning to Des Moines Metro Opera for the summer as the King in The Love for Three Oranges.
The 2021-2022 season featured a variety of assignments for the bass at The Metropolitan Opera, most notably singing Schwarz in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, as well as covering Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Colline in La bohème. He then made his return to Santa Fe Opera in the summer as Pistola in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Falstaff.
Original engagements for Scott Conner’s 2020-2021 season included King Balthazar in Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, as well as his return to The Metropolitan Opera, singing the High Priest of Baal in Nabucco, and covering the King in Aida, Goffredo in Il Pirata, and Colline in La bohème (all Met engagements cancelled due to the pandemic). He closed the season by making his return to Des Moines Metro Opera as Jupiter in Platée. Mr. Conner’s COVID-affected 2019-2020 season began with Opera Philadelphia, where he performed the role of The King in The Love for Three Oranges. He then returned to the Metropolitan Opera singing the Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier and covered Colline in La bohème.
Mr. Conner made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2017 as the Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier, and has subsequently returned in numerous roles, including Pinellino in Gianni Schicchi, and covering Bello in La fanciulla del West. His COVID-cancelled assignments at the Met include singing the High Priest of Baal in Nabucco, and covering the King in Aida, Goffredo in Il Pirata, and Colline in La bohème. Other notable US appearances include San Francisco Opera as Tom in Un ballo in maschera, Colline in La bohème and Angelotti in Tosca; San Diego Opera as Escamillo in Carmen, Santa Fe Opera as Mustafa in L’italiana in Algeri, Portland Opera as Sparafucile in Rigoletto; Palm Beach Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, Bard Summerscape as a Judge in the American Premiere of Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane and the Spoleto Festival USA as the First Soldier and First Nazarene in Salome. Additionally, he joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago to cover the role of Mephistopheles in Faust.
Scott Conner began his career in Europe as an Ensemble member of Semperoper Dresden, where his roles included Colline in La bohème, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Masetto in Don Giovanni and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. He has also appeared with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and BBC Proms as the Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier, Zürich Opera for Don Profondo in Il Viaggio a Reims, as well as Zoroastro in Orlando under the baton of William Christie; Bayerische Staatsoper singing Tom in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, conducted by Zubin Mehta, as well as the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Theseus in Robert Carsen’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Cavalli’s Elena; Opéra National de Paris as Nerbulone in Eliogabalo; Opera de Dijon as Jupiter/Vulcano in La finta pazza, led by Leonardo Alarcon; Dutch National Opera as Nerbulone in Eliogabalo and Bernardino in Benvenuto Cellini; Glyndebourne Festival Opera for Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin; and L’Opéra de Lille as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Mr. Conner was the recipient of the 1st Prize Award in the 2012 Gerda Lissner Vocal Competition and the 2012 Loren L. Zachary Vocal Competition. Conner attended the University of Missouri, Kansas City for his Bachelor of Music degree.
