
BIOGRAPHY
Acclaimed for his “fresh-toned and touching portrayal” by Opera News and lauded by the New Orleans Times-Picayune for his “rich lyrical tenor, fabulous top notes, and striking good looks,” John McVeigh continues to garner attention for his countless world-class performances at the most revered houses throughout the United States and worldwide.
Last season, McVeigh returned to the Metropolitan Opera for both Le nozze di Figaro and Turandot. Previously, he performed Pang in Turandot with Palm Beach Opera, Don Basilio in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Theater St. Louis, as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and DCINY, and as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with DCINY.
An accomplished “cross-over” artist, McVeigh shares his talents both in operatic and theatrical settings. His extensive work includes performances as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Utah Opera and in his Central City Opera début; Johnny Inkslinger in Britten’s folkloric operetta, Paul Bunyan, with Central City Opera; Feeny in Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur and Hot Biscuit Slim in Paul Bunyan at New York City Opera (broadcast on Live from Lincoln Center on PBS); his Ravinia Festival début as Henrick in A Little Night Music alongside Patti LuPone; the title role in Candide with Austin Lyric Opera; the title role in Romberg’s The Student Prince with Central City Opera; and Anatol in Vanessa with San Diego Opera.
Having led a prolific concert and oratorio career, Mr. McVeigh has performed notorious pieces throughout the world including Händel’s Messiah with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Austin Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, the Masterworks Chorus at Carnegie Hall, the Washington National Cathedral with the Cathedral Choral Society, Philharmonia Baroque, Music of the Baroque, Winston Salem Symphony, Memphis Symphony, and with DCINY at Carnegie Hall; Mahler’s Das Lied der Erde with Trinity Church Wall Street; Celebrant in Bernstein’s Mass with the Brevard Music Center; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Grant Park Music Festival, Colorado Music Festival, Arizona Music Festival and with the Portland Symphony Orchestra; Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Memphis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and Utah Symphony; Haydn’s Creation with the Portland Symphony,
Berkshire Chorale, and the Winston Salem Symphony, with whom he also sang Bach’s St. John’s Passion; and Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 5 with the The Washington Chorus, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchester in Leipzig, and the Danish National Radio Orchestra under the baton of Dennis Russell Davies. Additionally McVeigh had a solo performance in a brand new concert entitled Rev. 23, the unpublished last chapter of the Book of Revelation as dictated by St. John the Divine which narrates the last battle to recapture Paradise-on-Earth and restore the balance of good and evil to our world, with Prototype Festival.
A house favorite at The Metropolitan Opera, he has performed numerous productions with the esteemed company. Favorite engagements with the house include his Metropolitan Opera début as Pang in Turandot, Bardolfo in Falstaff, Tinca in Il tabarro, Little Bat in their first production of Susannah under James Conlon, and their productions of La Fanciulla del West, Dialogues des Carmelites, Le nozze di Figaro, Turandot, Eugene Onegin, Die Zauberflöte, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, The Merry Widow, Iolanta, La traviata, Falstaff, Manon, Das Rheingold, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Billy Budd. Also a house favorite at Houston Grand Opera, he has performed the role of Will Tweedy in the world première of Cold Sassy Tree with repeated performances at Atlanta Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Omaha, San Diego Opera, and Opera Carolina; Remendado in Carmen; Lurcanio in Händel’s Ariodante and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, both of which he later performed at New York City Opera; and in their production of Das Rheingold. As an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, his numerous performances there include Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette, St. Stephen in Four Saints in Three Acts, and Michael Daughtery’s Jackie O.
Highlights of John’s considerable European and international career include Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 and Adrastro in Traettas’ Antigona with the Théâtre du Châtelet; Lurcanio in Ariodante at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and de Vlaamse Opera; Endimione in Martín y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana at the Gran Teatre del Liceu; St. Stephen in Four Saints in Three Acts at the Edinburgh Festival; Bill in Jonathan Dove’s Flight with de Vlaamse Opera; Novice in Billy Budd with Teatro Carlo Felice; Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Endimione in Martin y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana at Teatro Real; Emilio in Partenope at the Göttingen Händel Festspiele; Teseo in Traetta’s eclectic reform opera Ippolito ed Aricia with Opéra national de Montpellier; Ozia in Mozart’s only, rarely performed oratorio Betulia liberata with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques; and Marzio in Mozart’s prodigal opera seria Mitridate, re di Ponto at Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada.
Additional operatic engagements include Goro in Madama Butterfly with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the role of the Footman in Der Rosenkavalier with Boston Symphony Orchestra; Prunier in La rondine with Opera Theater Saint Louis; Pang in Turandot with Hawaii Opera Theatre and Arizona Opera; Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Colorado; Emilio in Händel’s opera Partenope with Glimmerglass Opera and New York City Opera; Novice in Billy Budd in his débuts with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, and Washington National Opera and in a return to Houston Grand Opera; Fenton in Falstaff and Arbace in Idomeneo with Sante Fe Opera; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Glimmerglass Opera and Austin Lyric Opera; Azor in Zemire et Azor with Arizona Opera; and Ferrando in Così fan tutte in a return to Austin Lyric Opera. In addition, he performed the world première of Carlisle Floyd’s Soul of Heaven for tenor and piano.
Additional concert engagements include Händel’s L’allegro with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center; The Blind at the Lincoln Center Festival; Lackey in Der Rosenkavalier with National Symphony Orchestra; Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the St. Catherine of Siena Concert Series; Acis in Acis and Galatea with the Macau International Music Festival, Glimmerglass Opera, the Detroit Oratorio Society, and Concert Radio Kamer Filharmonie in Amsterdam; Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion under the baton of Jaap van Zweden with the Dallas Symphony; Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge with the Arizona Music Festival and Portland Chamber Music Festival; Britten’s song cycle Nocturne with the Portland Symphony and Music of the Baroque; Rameu’s Platée with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Ravinia Festival and Seattle Symphony; The Celebrant in Bernstein’s MASS with the Utah Symphony and Virginia Arts Festival; Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Calgary Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Minnesota Orchestra and Richmond Symphony; Mozart’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony; Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Händel’s Israel in Egypt, and a series of Bach cantatas and Händel arias with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Milwaukee Symphony and under the baton of John Nelson with Soli Deo Gloria; Beethoven’s Mass in C Major with the Honolulu Symphony; Stravinsky’s neoclassical ballet Pulcinella with the Brooklyn Philharmonic; and Haydn’s Harmoniemesse with the Händel and Haydn Society.
Discography includes Will Tweedy in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree on the Albany Label, Daughtery’s Jackie O and Emilio in Händel’s Partenope.
JOHN MCVEIGH
TENOR
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...the most complete characterization on the stage..." – Opera Today
La rondine – “John McVeigh, as Prunier, threatened to walk away with the show. Arguably the most complete characterization on the stage, McVeigh put his playboy good looks in service of creating a most lovable cad. John also sang with real refinement, his honeyed tenor encompassing all of the role’s demands.”
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"...dramatically persuasive..." – DC Metro Theater Arts
"The Essential Verdi" – “And tenor John McVeigh met most of the best of them, caressing and sustaining the G# in “muta d’accento,” ending the phrase in a fine diminuendo. In addition, McVeigh’s rakish demeanor was dramatically persuasive, helping carry the day at the end.”
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"...a warm, dark-hued tenor..." – Chicago Sun Times (London)
Britten’s Nocturne – “Soloist John McVeigh rode its shifting moods with a warm, dark-hued tenor. Britten’s music flowed seamlessly from one text to the next, moving from a shadowy, dissonant undercurrent in an excerpt from Shelley’s “Prometheus Unbound” to ecstatic outbursts in Shakespeare’s Sonnet XLIII.”
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"...mesmerizing...” – The Salt Lake Tribune
Bernstein’s MASS – “Tenor John McVeigh gave a stunning performance in the central role of the Celebrant; his “mad scene” toward the end of the piece was mesmerizing.”
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"...a fresh-voiced Acis..." – The New York Times
Acis and Galatea – “In the title roles, John McVeigh was a fresh-voiced Acis, ardent of presence and limpid in the way he shaped Handel’s lines…”