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ISAIAH MUSIK-AYALA

BASS

BIOGRAPHY

With a voice that the New York Times has described as “burly and resonant,” and the San Francisco Classical Voice has called “commanding and compelling,” American bass Isaiah Musik-Ayala is quickly gaining recognition as a performer to watch in a wide variety of repertoire across the United States.

 

In the current season, Isaiah returns to Anchorage Opera for all three productions. He will make his role debut as Haly in L’italiana in Algeri, in a co-production with Houston’s Opera in the Heights. He will also reprise his Bonze in Madama Butterfly and sing a variety of repertoire in the company’s immersive pastiche production of Mozart at the Museum at the Anchorage Museum, developed by Artistic Director Ben Robinson. Highlights of the 2023-2024 season for Isaiah included his début at the Los Angeles Philharmonic as The Groundskeeper in Oliver Leith’s Last Days, a new opera chronicling the life and death of Kurt Cobain, under the baton of Thomas Adès. He also débuted with Anchorage Opera as Baron Douphol in La traviata and returned to Opera San Jose to cover Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

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CRITICAL ACCLAIM


"...Musik-Ayala’s ominous vocal lines and steely authority, even in heavy chains and coarse long hair, powerfully reconfigure the drama..." – San Francisco Classical Voice


Salome – "When the prophet makes [his] first entrance from his subterranean cell, Musik-Ayala’s ominous vocal lines and steely authority, even in heavy chains and coarse long hair, powerfully reconfigure the drama. If Salome’s elaborately limned obsessions with his skin and hair and mouth are overtly sexual, it’s clear why anyone would fall under this Iokanaan’s [sic] compelling aura.”

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"...Musik-Ayala held his ground as the sole deep voice, bringing a burly and resonant tone..." – The New York Times


Otello – "The [bass] Isaiah Musik-Ayala held his ground as the sole deep voice, bringing a burly and resonant tone to the role of Desdemona's father, Elmiro."

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"...He’s a force to be reckoned with, not only as Banquo, but as an ascendant star in the opera world...” – Schmopera


Macbeth – “Mr. Musik-Ayala is a potent and formidable [bass]. He’s a force to be reckoned with, not only as Banquo, but as an ascendant star in the opera world.”

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"...possesses that rare ability to sing as if he is actually just conversing..." – Operaville


La Cenerentola – "At the center is [bass] Isaiah Musik-Ayala, who plays the oafish father, Don Magnifico, with a wry cynicism, and possesses that rare ability to sing as if he is actually just conversing."

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"...Vocally, he was that balance-point as well, a rich continuo line that each character resonated against..." – Repeat Performances


Lucia di Lammermoor – "Their anchor was [bass] Isaiah Musik-Ayala as the chaplain, doing an excellent job balancing the plot with moralistic advice that was too little too late. Vocally, he was that balance-point as well, a rich continuo line that each character resonated against."


REPRESENTATIVES

Adrienne Boris

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