Gaining rapid international and national acclaim for his commanding performances, bass-baritone ALFRED WALKER (Porgy) will sing his first performances of Creonte in Medea with Opéra de Nancy et Lorraine and the title role in Don Quichotte with Tulsa Opera in the 2009/10 season. He also returns to San Diego Opera for Colline in La bohème and to the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, in addition to singing Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In coming seasons, his engagements include a return to Theater Basel for his first performances of Amonasro in Aida. In the 2008/09 season, he triumphed in the title role in Der fliegende Holländer at Theater Basel and as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde at Angers Nantes Opera with further performances with Opéra de Dijon, in addition to joining Seattle Opera for Orest in Elektra. He also joined the Utah Symphony and Sun Valley Music Festival for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

The bass-baritone recently received great acclaim for performances of Allazim in the Peter Sellars’ production of Zaide at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Vienna Festival, London’s Barbican Centre, and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. On other international stages, he sang Telramund in concert performances of Lohengrin in Oviedo, Spain under the baton of Semyon Bychkov and later joined the conductor and the WDR Orchestra for Lodovico in Otello. He made his La Scala debut as Orest in Elektra and repeated performances of the same role at Spain’s San Sebastian Festival and in his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on a double bill in which he also sang Il Prologo in Gnecchi’s Cassandra.

Other highlights of recent seasons include his LA Opera debut as Porgy in Porgy and Bess, the Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Méphistophélès in Faust with Tulsa Opera, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with Minnesota Opera and Utah Opera, Achilla in Giulio Cesare with San Diego Opera, Colline in La bohème with Atlanta Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera North, and Donner in Das Rheingold with New Orleans Opera. Also a frequent presence on the Metropolitan Opera stage, he recently returned to the famed house for Parsi Rustomji in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha, following previous engagements in Roméo et Juliette, Samson et Dalila, Pelléas et Mélisande, Les Troyens, and L’enfant et les sortilèges.

In addition to his vast operatic repertoire, Walker is an equally versatile concert artist. He recently joined Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the Handel and Haydn Society for Mozart’s Requiem, and the American Symphony Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall for Mahler’s Kindertoten-Lieder and Rückert-Lieder. Other concert performances include his debut with the New York Philharmonic and Sir Colin Davis in Béatrice et Bénédict, Verdi’s Requiem at the Spoleto Festival USA and with the Greensboro Symphony, performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, and a concert performance of Strauss’ Salome at the Tanglewood Festival with Seiji Ozawa. Walker’s previous oratorio performances include the Verdi Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. He has also presented recitals at the Manchester Music Festival.

Walker’s video credits include Metropolitan Opera productions of Samson et Dalila and Fidelio featured on PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center. He can also be heard on Deutsche Grammophon’s upcoming release of Strauss’ Elektra and on the complete set of Verdi – The Tenor Arias with Plácido Domingo.

A graduate of Dillard University, Loyola University, and the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the New Orleans native is the recipient of many distinguished awards including the George London Foundation, Palm Beach Opera Competition, Houston Opera Studio’s Eleanor McCollum Competition, and the prestigious Sullivan Foundation career grant.