Zachary Nelson, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, studied vocal performance at The Catholic University of America, subsequently attending the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
The 2026-2027 season features an exciting pair of role debuts for Mr. Nelson. He debuts the role of the Forrester in Barrie Kosky’s production of The Cunning Little Vixen, which also serves as his house debut with The Dallas Opera. The spring finds him returning to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, singing the Musiklehrer in Ariadne auf Naxos for the first time.
The previous season found the baritone continuing his relationship with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, singing Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and Pittsburgh Opera as Marcello in La bohème. Nelson also made an anticipated role debut as Don Pizarro in Fidelio with Utah Opera, and he joined the Utah Symphony during the summer for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
During the 2024-2025 season, Mr. Nelson returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Paul in Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s The Listeners, and made his role debut as the titular Bluebeard in Bluebeard’s Castle with Opera San Jose. Elsewhere in the season, he returned to one of his signature roles, Leporello, in Don Giovanni with Opera Omaha, and continued the role of Alberich in his first performances of Siegfried with Atlanta Opera for their Ring Cycle. In concert, he joined the Santa Fe Symphony for a New Year’s Eve concert of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
A regular performer with Lyric Opera of Chicago, the baritone has been featured at the Lyric as a soloist in their widely attended annual Millennium Park concert, followed by performances of Marcello in La bohème. He has also performed Ping in Turandot, Donner in Das Rheingold and covered Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore.
Other notable US appearances include: Santa Fe Opera as Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande, Marcello in La bohème, Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Malatesta in Laurent Pelly's Don Pasquale, and Angelotti in Tosca; Alberich in Atlanta Opera’s new production of Das Rheingold as well as Marcello in La bohème; the Four Villains in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann; Escamillo in Carmen, Leporello in Don Giovanni, and Ping in Turandot with Palm Beach Opera; the title role in Sweeney Todd with Des Moines Metro Opera; La bohème with New Orleans Opera and the Jacksonville Symphony; Arizona Opera as Leporello in Don Giovanni and as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro; San Francisco Opera in Carmen as Escamillo; Pittsburgh Opera debut as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore; Florentine Opera as Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, and Quinault in Adriana Lecouvreur with Opera Orchestra of New York. He has appeared in concert with the Utah Symphony for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Act 3 of Berg’s Wozzeck, joined the Sag Harbor Song Festival in recital, partnered with soprano Leah Crocetto at New York City's Morgan Library under the auspices of the George London Foundation, essayed Bloch's Sacred Service with Voices of Ascension in New York City, debuted the role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Lubbock Symphony, and joined Steven Blier's “Killer B's” with the New York Festival of Song.
Starting in the 2013-2014 season, Mr. Nelson joined the ensemble of the Dresden Semperoper, where he performed the roles of Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La bohème, Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Guglielmo in a new production of Così fan tutte. Subsequent performances there include Paolo in Simon Boccanegra, Escamillo in Carmen, and he reprised the roles of Gugliemo in Così fan tutte, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Marcello in La bohème, and Figaro in both Il barbiere di Siviglia and premiered a new production of Le nozze di figaro. Other notable international engagements include: Escamillo in Carmen with Den Norske Opera, the title role of Le nozze di Figaro with the Aix-en-Provence Festival on tour in Manama, Bahrain, and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nagoya. He made a debut at the Salzburg Landestheater, and returned to the Canadian Opera Company as Escamillo after making his debut as Masetto in Dmitri Tcherniakov's Don Giovanni.
Awards Mr. Nelson has garnered are: The George London Award from the 2012 George London Foundation, 1st prize from the 2012 Opera Index Competition, The 2012 Liederkranz Foundation Competition (General Opera Division), and the 2012 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation. Also, 2nd prize from the 2011 Gerda Lissner Competition, the 2011 Giulio Gari Foundation, and the 2011 Loren Zachary Competition.
