Michael Fabiano Biography

Michael Fabiano (born 8 May 1984) is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, English National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dresden Semperoper and Teatro San Carlo.

Early years

Fabiano was a high school debater for Benilde-St. Margaret's high school in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with a bachelors degree in Vocal Performance. During his time there, he studied under the tenor George Shirley. He also studied extensively with soprano Julia Faulkner. In the summer following graduation, he was an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera, and in the autumn of that year he began his studies at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Fabiano continues his private study with Bill Schuman.

Career

Fabiano made his professional stage debut in 2007 at the Klagenfurt Stadttheater as Alfredo in La traviata. In the same year, he made role debuts of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and the title role of Mavra in Stravinsky's Mavra at the Greek National Opera. 2006 marked Fabiano's concert debut at Carnegie Hall as Don Antonio in Dom Sébastien with the Opera Orchestra of New York and conductor Eve Queler. In the beginning of 2008, Fabiano made his La Scala debut as Rinuccio in a production conducted by Riccardo Chailly. Debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra as Rodolfo in La bohème, with the Minnesota Orchestra as Alfredo, and with Opera New Jersey as Alfredo followed. Fabiano has performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples where he was seen as both Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Alfredo in La traviata. Il Duca in Rigoletto served as his role and opera house debut at English National Opera. January 2010 brought his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Raffaele in Stiffelio. Additionally, Fabiano has performed Rodolfo in La bohème with the Kansas City Lyric Opera, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Opera Colorado, and the tenor soloist of Rossini's Stabat Mater in Spoleto. Fabiano has also been seen at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia in a concert performance of Respighi's La fiamma and in his role debuts as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon"?all presented by the Academy of Vocal Arts.

His 2011/12 season began with a debut at the San Francisco Opera singing Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia opposite soprano Renee Fleming. Other debuts in the season were schduled for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oper Köln, Teatro Real, Wiener Symphoniker, Cleveland Orchestra, and the Florida Grand Opera.

During the 2010/2011 season he made several international debuts, most notably as the duke in Rigoletto at the Dresden Semperoper, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Vancouver Opera, Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia at the English National Opera in the world's first 3D LIVE Broadcast throughout Europe, and as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opéra de Limoges. In addition, Fabiano performed his first Verdi Requiem with the Columbus Symphony. The 2010/2011 season continued with debuts scheduled for the Bilbao Opera as Edgardo and the Paris Opera as Cassio in Verdi's Otello. He will appear as Alfredo in La traviata during The Santa Fe Opera's summer 2013 festival season.

Awards

A Grand Prize winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Fabiano appears in a 2007 feature documentary film, The Audition, which tracked the lives and progress of the winners and participants of the Met's National Council Auditions. He has also won several international voice competitions. In 2006 he was the First Prize winner in the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition and a grand prize winner (and winner of the special Tenor Prize) in the Julián Gayarre Competition in Pamplona, Spain. He was the First Prize Winner of the Loren Zachary Competition, a Sarah Tucker Grant Recipient, and an Encouragement Award Winner from the George London Foundation in 2007. He was the winner of the First Prize of the Opera Index Awards in 2008 and the Grand Prize from the Gerda Lissner Foundation in 2009.