GORDON GIETZ (John Worthing) is one of the most promising young tenors of his generation. His career is focused equally on operatic and concert repertoire, encompassing a wide range of musical styles.

In the 2010/11 season Gietz opens with a performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at the Toronto Summer Music Festival under the baton of Agnes Grossman. Other concert performances include Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Paul Goodwin and concert performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this world premiere of Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Operatic engagements include performances of L’heure espagnole at the Edinburgh Festival, Kát’a Kabanová at La Monnaie, and Wozzeck at Köln Opera. Gietz opened the 2009/10 season as Ferrando in an Arizona Opera production of Così fan tutte. Other engagements [NOTE CZECH SYMBOL] included Jenu?fa in Madrid and L’heure espagnole at the Edinburgh Festival. Gietz also made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the highly anticipated new production of Shostakovich’s The Nose, conducted by Valery Gergiev. In concert work, Gietz performed Verdi’s Requiem with New Orleans Opera.

Recently, Gietz has performed with the Canadian Opera Company as Ottavio in Don Giovanni and performed his first Pinkerton in an Opera Ontario production of Madama Butterfly. He appeared in a Robert Carsen staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at La Scala and also sang in a rare production of Chabrier’s Le roi malgré lui with Lyon Opera. Other recent engagements include a return to Nationale Reisopera for the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Die Fledermaus under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, and a reprise of the role of Yonas in Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater for the Barbican Centre. Gietz’s past concert engagements include Stravinsky’s Les noces with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, Messiah with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, his role debut as Heinrich in Tannhäuser with the Montreal Symphony and Kent Nagano, Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the St. Louis Symphony and David Robertson, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Vancouver Symphony and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for Sakari Oramo’s final concerts as music director.

In past seasons, Gietz reprised the role of Stingo – which he created at Royal Opera, Covent Garden – in the U.S. premiere of Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice at the Washington National Opera. Another highlight was the world premiere of Jonathan Harvey’s Wagner Dream in the role Ananda at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam as well as on tour to Luxemburg and Paris. Other opera appearances included The Merry Widow at the Opéra de Lyon, a return to Dallas Opera in La rondine, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at Geneva Opera, and a new production of Die Zauberflöte for Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Centre.

Gietz has appeared with Teatro alla Scala as Chevalier de la Force in Robert Carsen’s production of Dialogues des Carmélites, with San Francisco Opera in their production of Arshak II, with Houston Grand Opera as Kudrjas in Kát’a Kabanová, with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and with the Washington National Opera singing Chevalier de Danceny in Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons. Gietz created the role of Camille Raquin in Tobias Picker’s Thérèse Raquin with Dallas Opera, l’Opéra de Montréal, and San Diego Opera. He made his debut with the Santa Fe Opera as Bénédict in a new production of Béatrice et Bénédict and later returned to sing Idamante in Idomeneo and the Chevalier de la Force in a new production of Dialogues des Carmélites.

Other appearances include the Duke in Rigoletto opposite Youngok Shin in Beijing, China, and Vietnam; Bénédict with Yves Abel at New York’s Lincoln Center; Alfredo in La traviata and Fritz in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein with the Opera Company of Philadelphia; Sam Polk in Susannah, Steva [NOTE CZECH SYMBOL] in Jenu?fa, and Kudrjas with the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Romeo with the West Australian and South Australian operas; and Tamino at De Nederlandse Opera.

His concert experience includes appearances with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur, the Cleveland Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, the Montreal Symphony led by Charles Dutoit, the Winnipeg Symphony conducted by Bramwell Tovey, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle and Wolfgang Sawallisch. He has performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Houston Symphony conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, l’Orchestre Métropolitain, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Boston Symphony under Hans Graf, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Gietz has also performed with Boston Baroque, the Calgary Philharmonic, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Gietz made his London debut with John Eliot Gardiner in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the BBC Proms Concerts.