Grammy Award-winning bass Wei Wu trained at Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artist Program, the People’s University of China, Beijing, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, who recently presented him with the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Graduate Award.
The 2026-2027 season features a return to a signature role for Mr. Wu, Kōbun in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, in his debut with the Finnish National Opera, and a return to Utah Opera. He also debuts the role of Sam in Un ballo in Maschera with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and essays Colline in La bohème with the Montgomery Symphony. Future seasons include his return to the roster of The Metropolitan Opera.
The previous season featured a mix of debut and return engagements for Wei Wu. He made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in Vanessa as the Major Domo/Footman under the baton of Andris Nelsons; returned to the role of Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with Opera San Antonio, and joined San Francisco Opera again for its highly successful Monkey King, covering Lord Laozi.
The 2024-2025 season included exciting returns for Mr. Wu, as he began the season with Los Angeles Opera, singing both Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette and The Bonze in Madama Butterfly. He then bowed with Austin Opera for Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, debuted with the Shanghai Symphony as Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and brought his celebrated portrayal of Kōbun in The Revolution of Steve Jobs to Washington National Opera. Mr. Wu closed the season with the North Carolina Symphony, singing performances of Mozart's Requiem, and with Bard SummerScape, bowing as Benes in Dalibor.
Mr. Wu has made several notable house debuts in recent seasons, as Zuniga in a new production of Bizet’s Carmen with The Metropolitan Opera, as Kōbun with San Francisco Opera, and as Angelotti in Tosca with the Los Angeles Opera. Other recent engagements include: Frère Laurent at Central City Opera; Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Opera Philadelphia; Hunding in Act 1 of Die Walküre with New Orleans Opera; Marv Carson in A Thousand Acres (world premiere) and Snug the Joiner in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, both for Des Moines Metro Opera; Bard SummerScape as Benes in Dalibor and Mathisen in Meyerbeer’s Le prophète, and performances of Kōbun with Calgary Opera, Utah Opera, Austin Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Mr. Wu bowed as Kōbun in the world premiere performances of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Santa Fe Opera, and appears on the cast live recording, which was released by Pentatone and won Best Opera Recording at the 2019 Grammy Awards. His notable operatic engagements include Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Colline (La bohème) and Lodovico (Otello) with Washington National Opera; Arnold “Chick” Gandil in the world premiere of Joel Puckett’s The Fix with Minnesota Opera; the Four Villains (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Don Basilio and the Old Hebrew (Samson et Dalila) at the NCPA Beijing, Timur (Turandot) and Father Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) with Pittsburgh Opera, the Nephew in Blood Moon with the PROTOTYPE Festival, and Phanuel (Hérodiade) as well as the Ghost of Nino (Semiramide) with Washington Concert Opera.
On the symphonic stage, he has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony as Rocco in Fidelio, conducted by Manfred Honeck, Kansas City Symphony, for Mozart’s Requiem led by Michael Stern, and has sung Verdi’s Requiem with The Orchestra Now and the West Virginia Symphony.
