JASON ZACHER
BASS-BARITONE
BIOGRAPHY
Bass-baritone Jason Zacher is quickly gaining national attention as a rising new talent and versatile performer. This season, Mr. Zacher will make house débuts with Portland Opera as Colline in La bohème, Tulsa Opera as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, and Sarasota Opera as Olin Blitch in Susannah. He also joins Chattanooga Symphony and Opera as the bass soloist for Verdi’s Requiem.
Mr. Zacher recently completed a two-year tenure as a member of the prestigious Glynn Studio Artist program at The Atlanta Opera, taking the stage in their productions of Frankenstein, Rigoletto, La bohème, A Midsummer Night's Dream, La bohème, The Magic Flute, Macbeth, Siegfried, and Semele. Last season, he also joined South Florida Symphony as Pangloss and Voltaire in Candide, Resonance Works as Enrico VIII in Anna Bolena, Worcester Chorus for Messiah, Montclair State University for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, as well as Tulsa Opera and Central City Opera for gala concerts. This past summer he joined Central City Opera as the Wizard in Once Upon a Mattress and for their Opera’s Greatest Hits concert. Other recent engagements include his returns to Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and to The Glimmerglass Festival, where he took on the role of Uncle/Witness #9 in Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree and covered both the Pirate King and Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance. Mr. Zacher also advanced to the finals of the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition, where he received the second-place prize.
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Mr. Zacher is a former member of the Sandford Studio Artist Program at Kentucky Opera, where he impressed audiences with his roles as Colline in La bohème, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, and Henry in The Gift of the Magi. Following his time in Kentucky, he was highlighted as part of the Young Artist Program at The Glimmerglass Festival, most notably performing the role of Argante in Rinaldo and covering Pangloss/Voltaire in Candide. Mr. Zacher was also featured as a soloist in concert alongside award-winning singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant and Anthony Roth Costanzo. He spent several summers with Des Moines Metro Opera, most recently singing the role of Jimmy in the Midwest premiere of American Apollo (Geter/Palmer), as well as covering both Bottom and Theseus in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Zacher was recently featured as the bass soloist in Mozart's Requiem alongside the Masterwork Chorus in the spring of 2023. He returned in December, making his Carnegie Hall début as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Other notable credits include bass soloist in Bach’s Hercules at the Crossroads (BWV213), Mendelssohn’s St. Paul, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel.
Also well regarded in the competition circuit, Mr. Zacher was named a New York District Winner for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (2023). He has received top accolades from various prestigious organizations, including the Kurt Weill Foundation, the Jensen Foundation, Annapolis Opera, James Toland Vocal Arts, Rochester Oratorio Society, Opera Birmingham, and National Opera Association, among others.
Current as of September 1, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"His is a voice that resonates, deeply and securely..." – onStage Pittsburgh
Anna Bolena – "...bass-baritone Jason Zacher, as Enrico VIII, sings and acts in a style which will win him an immediate welcome – “a bass who can sing,” as the old pundits often wrote. His tones and bearing are appropriately formidable, and, quite contrary to the corpulent, unpalatable countenance usually associated with a mention of Henry VIII, he cuts quite the dashing figure in the stage presence department. His is a voice that resonates, deeply and securely, even in the massive ensembles."
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"...an alluring persona that dominated the stage every moment he was on..." – Palm Beach ArtsPaper
Candide – "...The catalyst of all the action is the multiple part of Narrator, Dr. Pangloss (Candide’s teacher) and Voltaire himself, created for an actor (Max Adrian) who did not have classical vocal training. The present protagonist, Jason Zacher, had real vocal training, a resonant baritone voice, acting skills to burn, and most important, an alluring persona that dominated the stage every moment he was on..."
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"...a powerful and polished, rolling bass-baritone..." – Opera Today
Elizabeth Cree – Elizabeth begins her escape from poverty by first getting a job as a prompter at the Music Hall, where other on- and backstage denizens include Uncle (Jason Zacher, sporting a powerful and polished, rolling bass-baritone)...
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“Jason Zacher’s solo ‘Vecchia zimarra’ had me so beguiled” – Arts-Louisville
La bohème – “Jason Zacher’s solo ‘Vecchia zimarra’ had me so beguiled that I wanted to throw money on to the stage so that he wouldn’t have to do what he’s singing about (don’t want to divulge too much)"
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"...he possesses a well-focused, forceful bass-baritone.” – Opera Today
American Apollo – “In the cameo role of Jimmy, Jason Zacher holds his own as an overly protective chauffeur, serving notice with his handful of vocal exclamations that he possesses a well-focused, forceful bass-baritone.”