Gerard Schneider

Hailed as possessing ‘an imposing stage presence and a vivid range of colour and warmth of tone that compels attention’ (Irish Examiner), Austrian-Australian Tenor Gerard Schneider is

acknowledged as a preeminent singer of opera, operetta and song. Having already developed a strong international presence, Gerard has appeared throughout the world, including major debuts at the Sydney Opera House, the Carnegie Hall, the Wexford Festival Opera, and the Salzburger Festspiele in repertoire spanning the Bel Canto, Romantic and Verismo styles.

This season, Gerard found great success at the Wexford Festival Opera for his portrayal of Prince Dimitri in Alfano’s Risurrezione directed by Rosetta Cucchi, and conducted by Francesco Cilluffo before making his debut as Arturo in Bellini’s La Straniera with Maestro Antony Walker and the Washington Concert Opera. Most recently, Gerard was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists in “An evening of Verdi,”an orchestral concert directed by Stephen Wadsworth, and conducted by Evan Rogister.

From the 18 / 19 season, Gerard will join the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt, and in 2019, make his debut in the title role of Gounod’s Faust in a new production at Opera Omaha, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, and Maestro Steven White. Projects at Oper Frankfurt include the Prince in Rusalka and Der Hirt in Krol Roger.

In the 2016 / 2017 Season, Gerard appeared as Boris Grigoryevich in a new production of Janacek’s Katya Kabanova at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, at the Lincoln Center. He also appeared as the tenor soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle under Lorenzo Muti; as tenor soloist in Starry Vienna with Maestro Bruno Weil and the Macao Symphony Orchestra in China, as Danilo in Die Lustige Witwe at the Kyoto Summer Music Festival in Japan, in concert with the Nuernberger Symphoniker in both Nuernberg and Neumarkt, and as a resident artist at the Manchester Festival in Vermont.

Gerard also recorded the title role in Boris Blacher’s Romeo und Julia with the acclaimed Ensemble Modern in live performances in Frankfurt and Alzenau, Germany, appeared in Brian Irvine’s and Neil Martin’s new opera, Mary Gordon, at the Dublin Concert Hall in Ireland, with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, and made his debut at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the Lincoln Center in a concert of Operetta and Lieder with the German Forum.

In the 2015 / 2016, Gerard appeared in the role of Osaka in a new production of Pietro Mascagni’s Iris at the Bard Summerscape Festival. Lead by the visionary director James Darrah and conducted by Leon Botstein at the helm of the American Symphony Orchestra, Gerard’s performance was met with critical acclaim in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker.

Directly following this and at only a week’s notice, Gerard made his debut in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in the historic St. Canice’s Cathedral in Ireland, replacing tenor John Mark Ainsley. This performance was lead by Maestro Christian Curnyn at the helm of the Irish Chamber Orchestra.

In the same season Gerard also appeared as Harlekin in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, and appeared as Tenor soloist in the Juilliard Songfest in the Alice Tully Hall alongside collaborative pianist Brian Zeger.

Other credits in the 2015 / 2016 season also included another appearance as Tenor Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, his debut with the New York Festival of Song alongside Steven Blier at the Lincoln Center, and an appearance in a series of masterclasses with World-famous Maestro Fabio Luisi, culminating in an orchestral workshop of Puccini’s La Boheme in which Gerard sang the role of Rodolfo.

In the 2014 / 2015 season, Gerard appeared in performances at the Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera, appeared as the tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at the Canterbury Cathedral, sang a series of concerts with the Nuernberger Symphoniker, and made his American debut at the Carnegie Hall in a series masterclasses with Mezzo-Soprano Joyce Didonato.

In 2014, Gerard was a member of the Young Artist Program at the Salzburger Festspiele and appeared alongside Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko and Francesco Meli as Ruiz in a new production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore conducted by Daniele Gatti at the helm of the Wiener Philharmoniker. Gerard also appeared at the Abschlusskonzert with the Salzburg Camerata under the baton of Theodor Guschlbauer.

In the same year, Gerard appeared in the title role of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito in Salzburg and again at the Teatro Comunale, Firenze before making his debut in St. Petersburg at the Glazunov Hall and Sheremetev Palace in the role of Satyavan in Holst’ Savitri with the Melos Sinfonia.

Gerard’s past engagements include repertoire at the State Opera of South Australia, London Symphony Orchestra, Co-Opera, the Guildhall School, the West Australian Opera, and Clonter Opera in operatic roles including Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, the title role of Debussy’s L’enfant Prodigue, as Jacopo in Verdi’s I due Foscari, the Consigliere in

Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista, Ramon in Massenet’s La Navarraise, as both General Sir Philip Wingrave and the Narrator in Britten’s Owen Wingrave, Ferrando in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte, Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Bardolfo in Verdi’s Falstaff, Don Riccardo in

Verdi’s Ernani, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, and as both Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro in the Wiesbaden Maifestspiele and the Bregenz Festspielhaus, Austria.

Gerard’s past awards include the Phoebe Patrick Award, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Prize, the David Harper Prize and the Australian Opera Auditions Committee Prize at the 2011 Australian Singing Competition and the Tait memorial prize at the 2014 Royal Over-seas League Singing Competition. Gerard was a finalist in the Emmerich Smola Förderpreis which culminated in a public broadcast with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie under the baton of Justin Brown at the Landau Jugend-Stil Festhalle. Gerard also appeared as part of the accompanying SWR (Südwestrundfunk) documentary, Landau sucht den Opernstar. Gerard was also in the Final round of the 54th International Francisco Vinas Singing Competition.