Canadian-American tenor PHILIPPE CASTAGNER (El Dancaïro) is recognized for his beautiful and natural sound, as well as for a fresh and appealing presence on symphonic, operatic, and recital stages. Born in Canada and raised in New Jersey, Castagner joined the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2002 and made his Metropolitan Opera debut that season as the First Prisoner in Fidelio and, later, as Beppe in Pagliacci. Since then, he has appeared with the New York City, Portland, and Granite State Opera companies, the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and American Symphony Orchestras, and has performed in recital at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Washington’s Terrace Theater, and Boston’s Gardner Museum.

In the 2007/08 season, Philippe Castagner will debut with a number of orchestras and opera companies. He sings Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Los Angeles Philharmonic here at the Hollywood Bowl and with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Orchestra in Caracas. He also sings Beethoven with Louis Langrée and the Mostly Mozart Orchestra. He performs Beppe in Vancouver Opera’s production of Pagliacci and travels to Bilbao, Spain to sing Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and to the Arizona Opera for Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. He appears with the New World Symphony singing Ralph Vaughn Williams’ On Wenlock Edge, and bows as Hylas in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s complete performance of Les Troyens with James Levine. Castagner performs Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Bethesda, Maryland, and he gives a number of recitals under the auspices of Young Concert Artists as well as for the Harvard Theater Collection and San Francisco Opera.

During the 2006/07 season, Castagner made his New York Philharmonic debut with Lorin Maazel in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, after which he has been re-engaged to perform in 2009. During the season he performed as Tamino in the Vancouver Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte and Golo in the American debut of Robert Schumann’s Genoveva at the Bard Festival, as well as making a theatrical appearance as Freddy in My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic. Philippe Castagner and his wife reside in Brooklyn, New York.