Bass-baritone WAYNE TIGGES begins his 2006/07 season with his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mozart's Mass in C minor. He also sings the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Pacific and Creon in Oedipus Rex at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg in addition to returning to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Capulet in Roméo et Juliette. Among other upcoming engagements is his Glyndebourne debut as Escamillo.

In the 2005/06 season, he sang his first performances of the title role in Don Giovanni with Austin Lyric Opera. He also made his Spanish debut as the Sacerdote in Nabucco at Barcelona's Liceu, returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage, sang Zuniga in Carmen with San Diego Opera, and sang both Angelotti in Tosca and Sam in Un ballo in maschera with Cincinnati Opera. On the concert stage, he joined the Teatro Regio in Parma for Haydn's Creation and the Apollo Chorus and Orchestra for Elijah.

While still a second-year member of the prestigious Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, Tigges sang the title role in Le nozze di Figaro at the Lyric Opera of Chicago to great critical acclaim. He returned to the company in the 2004/05 season for Snook in the world premiere of Bolcom's A Wedding and Angelotti in Tosca. His other engagements with the company have included Samson and Delilah, Faust, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly, Pirates of Penzance, Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Thaïs, and Susannah. In addition, he has been heard as Doctor Grenville in La traviata in the company's student matinee performances. With the Santa Fe Opera, Tigges sang Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and he joined Austin Lyric Opera for the title role of Le nozze di Figaro. He is a regular guest at the Cincinnati Opera, and has also appeared with Opera Omaha.

Tigges also maintains a busy concert schedule. He recently sang Nielsen's Third Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Britten's Serenade under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, and Zemlinsky's Psalm 83 under James Conlon. Other performances include Bach's St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion with the Knox Chamber Orchestra, Handel's Messiah with the Beyer Music Chamber Orchestra, Poulenc's Stabat Mater with the Musica Antiqua Chamber Orchestra, and concerts of operatic arias at Oregon's Britt Music Festival.

Tigges was a finalist in the 2003 Palm Beach Vocal Opera Competition and the winner of the 2003 Union League Competition. He was a Metropolitan Opera Regional Finalist in 2000 as well as a finalist at the McAllister Awards in 2001 and 2002. Originally from Dubuque, Iowa, Tigges received a graduate degree and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.

09/06