Kyle van Schoonhoven
American tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven, a Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals winner, is a Wagnerian star on the rise. The New York Times praises him for possessing a “gleaming, potent” instrument with a “steady, burnished sound.” Of a concert performance with the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Chronicle raved: “the title character’s prayer from the final act of Wagner’s Rienzi elicited a gleaming, potent performance from tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven, marked by suave phrasing and tonal freshness.”
In spring 2022, Mr. van Schoonhoven made his European debut with Opera de Rouen as Laca in Jenůfa, performed the role of Don José in The Tragedy of Carmen with Hawaii Opera Theatre, and joined the Bard Music Festival for Chausson’s rarity Le roi Arthus. In the current season sees van Schoonhoven’s return to the Met as the Messenger in Aida and in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and singing performances of Britten’s War Requiem with the Prague Philharmonic Choir, in support of the crisis in Ukraine.
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Oct 21
New York, New York
Prague, Czech Republic
Artist Bio
American tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven, a Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals winner, is a Wagnerian star on the rise. The New York Times praises him for possessing a “gleaming, potent” instrument with a “steady, burnished sound.” Of a concert performance with the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Chronicle raved: “the title character’s prayer from the final act of Wagner’s Rienzi elicited a gleaming, potent performance from tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven, marked by suave phrasing and tonal freshness.”
In spring 2022, Mr. van Schoonhoven made his European debut with Opera de Rouen as Laca in Jenůfa, performed the role of Don José in The Tragedy of Carmen with Hawaii Opera Theatre, and joined the Bard Music Festival for Chausson’s rarity Le roi Arthus. In the current season sees van Schoonhoven’s return to the Met as the Messenger in Aida and in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and singing performances of Britten’s War Requiem with the Prague Philharmonic Choir, in support of the crisis in Ukraine.
Mr. van Schoonhoven’s recent engagements include performances of Tchekalinsky (while covering Ghermann) in The Queen of Spades with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Cincinnati Opera, the title role in Act III of Siegfried with the New York Repertory Orchestra, Lensky in Eugene Onegin with Livermore Valley Opera, and a return to Buffalo Philharmonic for Songs of a Wayfarer. van Schoonhoven was scheduled to make his Metropolitan Opera debut in Tristan und Isolde, sing his first performances of Erik in The Flying Dutchman for Opera Maine, tour Asia with the Met Orchestra, and return to Lyric Opera of Chicago in Samson et Dalila, but unfortunately all of these engagements fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Notable highlights of previous seasons include van Schoonhoven’s debut as Don José in Carmen with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the role of Hades in Julian Wachner’s Rev. 23 with the Prototype Festival, and Rodolfo in La bohème with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. During his two year tenure with the prestigious Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera, van Schoonhoven made his company debut as the Young Servant in Elektra, as well as covered Froh in Das Rheingold, Siegmund in Die Walküre, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Aegisth in Elektra, and Uncle Billy/Billy Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Kyle van Schoonhoven is the recipient of a 2019 George London award, has received the Nicolai Gedda Memorial Award, and was a finalist in the 2016 Jensen Foundation Voice Competition. Additional repertory includes the title role in Chandler Carter’s Bobby, Alfredo in La Traviata, Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Oronte in Alcina, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Peter Fallow in Stefania de Kenessey’s Bonfire of the Vanities, and Genaro in the US Russian language premiere cast of Prokofiev’s Maddalena. van Schoonhoven holds a Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College as well as a Bachelor of Music from Fredonia School of Music.
Updated September 27, 2022
Audio Samples
Video
Ghermann’s Act 1 aria from Pique Dame
Siegmund heiss’ich – Die Walküre
“Mein lieber schwan” Lohengrin
Pictures
Press
"...heldentenor star of the future..." – Opera West
– “Kyle van Schoonhoven, a heldentenor star of the future now… brought the house down with “Mein lieber Schwan” as Wagner’s Lohengrin. This is a rare and amazing instrument, combined with musicality and presence...”
"...a steady, burnished sound..." – The New York Times
– “...the budding heldentenor Kyle van Schoonhoven [showed a] steady, burnished sound"
"...totally in command of his voice..." – Seen and Heard International
– "Van Schoonhoven opened this concert … with four classic British songs. There was no doubting either the young tenor’s sincerity or his intentions...The final line of ‘Silent Noon’ was sung in a beautiful head voice and actual tears seemed to flow at the end of ‘The Salley Gardens’...If van Schoonhoven’s physique did not have you thinking ‘budding Heldentenor’, once he started singing Wagner there was no doubt. He performed ‘Rienzi’s Prayer’ with ease and power, hurling the tribune’s final plea to the Almighty into the auditorium like a javelin. In Lohengrin’s farewell to Elsa, ‘Mein lieber Schwan’, he found equally congenial turf, his singing no less ardent but a bit more subdued.... Van Schoonhoven, totally in command of his voice, embodied the tragic hero remaining stoic throughout."
"...bright, gleaming lyric-dramatic voice..." – Opera Lively
– “[Richard Strauss] was not known to be a fan of tenors and wrote some fiendishly difficult roles for them, Bacchus being no exception. Kyle van Schoonhoven was more than a match for his character’s punishingly high tessitura, his bright, gleaming lyric-dramatic voice never showing signs of strain or constriction.”
"...ringing clarity of tone..." – City Beat
– “Tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven was a standout, singing the murderously high role of Bacchus with ringing clarity of tone.”