OPERA

Richard Zeller has sung as a solo artist at the highest international level for over 25 years. This includes 11 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, and appearances with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro Real, New York City Opera, Edinburgh Festival, Vienna Festival, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Casals Festival, and many more…  

With over 1500 performances, his career has been divided in equal parts in Opera and the Concert field. He has performed with the majority of the orchestras in the US, and in many other opera and concert venues throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and South America.

Richard Zeller’s opera engagements have included 11 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera.  In 2002-2003 he appeared at the Met in three new productions; as Ernesto in Bellini’s Il Pirata opposite Renée Fleming and Marcello Giordani; in the lead role of Eddie opposite Catherine Malfitano in William Bolcom's opera, A View from the Bridge, based on Arthur Miller's play; and as Chorebe in Berlioz's Les Troyens with Ben Heppner and Deborah Voigt, conducted by Maestro James Levine. 

His other assignments at the Met have included the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth, the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, Barak in R. Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Carlo in Verdi’s Ernani, Rangoni and Schelkalov in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in two different productions, Thoas in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride, Kothner in Wagners’s Die Meistersinger, Sprecher in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, as well as performances of smaller roles in other operas including Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Gounod’s Faust, and Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Richard Zeller sang the title role in Scottish Opera's widely heralded, award-winning production of Macbeth directed by Luc Bondy at its Edinburgh Festival premiere in 1999-2000, and in the revival at the Vienna Festival. Other highlights include performances in Chicago Lyric Opera’s Boris Godunov and Andrea Chénier, Gluck’s Alceste at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata with Hamburgische Staatsoper and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride in Madrid. 

With Scottish Opera, Mr. Zeller was featured as Germont in David McVicar’s new production of La Traviata in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Belfast, and also he appeared in Ireland with both Dublin Opera in Dublin singing Germont in La Traviata and Wexford Festival in Mascagni’s Il piccolo Marat. In other productions, he has performed Macbeth with Scottish Opera, Opera de Bordeaux, Opera de Vichy, and Portland Opera.

He has sung the title role of Rigoletto at New York City Opera, with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival and in numerous other venues, both staged and in concert, and he appeared as Athanaël in Massenet's Thaïs opposite Elizabeth Futral with the English National Opera at the Barbican in London. He has sung the role of Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata with Hamburgische Staatsoper, San Diego Opera, Scottish Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Portland Opera, Scottish Opera, Dublin Opera, and in many other opera and concert venues with orchestras in Europe and the USA. 

His Verdi baritone roles include many performances in the title roles of Rigoletto, Macbeth, Falstaff, and Simon Boccanegra, and as Germont in La Traviata, Conte Di Luna in Il trovatore, Amonasro in Aida, Rodrigo in Don Carlo, Carlo in Ernani, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Francesco in I due Foscari, Iago in Otello and as Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca. 

Zeller has also appeared with many regional opera companies in the U.S. including the Chicago Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Cincinnati, San Diego, Portland, Spoleto USA, New Orleans, Dayton, Eugene, and New Jersey Opera companies.

CONCERT

Richard Zeller is highly regarded in the concert field; highlights include appearances in the title role in Elijah with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia and in a nationwide radio broadcast with the Cleveland Orchestra as well as many other orchestras and choral groups throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia. 

Highlights of past seasons include appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Levine in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra.  His many performances at Carnegie Hall include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Bloch’s Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh), Catalani’s La Wally, Fauré’s Requiem, Hanson’s Merry Mount, Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins, and many others.

Richard Zeller was featured as the Bass soloist in 2001 in the EMMY nominated nationwide TV Broadcast of Live from Lincoln Center singing the Mozart Requiem with the Mostly Mozart Festival, conducted by Gerard Schwartz and presented by Beverly Sills.  

Zeller has appeared in hundreds of concerts each of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Handel’s Messiah in the US, Europe, Asia, and South America. He has appeared at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall with American Symphony Orchestra in the lead role of Signor Rivière in Dallapiccola’s opera Volo di notte and at Lincoln Center Jazz with Deborah Voigt and The Collegiate Chorale as the Gran-Pretre and Hercule in Gluck’s Alceste.

Mr. Zeller has performed with nearly all the major orchestras in the U.S. including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, and the symphonies of San Francisco, Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Pops, Minnesota, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore, Seattle, Oregon, San Diego, Pacific, Colorado, Utah, Phoenix, Wichita, Memphis, Florida, Tampa, Jacksonville, New World, Grant Park, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Baton Rouge, Portland (ME), Grand Rapids, Omaha, New Hampshire, Albuquerque, Buffalo, Long Island, Rochester, Artpark, American Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio, Nashville, Toledo, Johnstown, Harrisburg, Handel and Haydn Society, Huntsville, Louisiana Philharmonic, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Rhode Island, Charleston, Springfield, Walla Walla, and many others.

International orchestra credits include the Pablo Casals Festival, the MDR Symphony Orchester, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Dresdner Philharmonie, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Czech Philharmonic (Prague Autumn Festival), Tokyo Philharmonic, Cesky Krumlov Festival (Czech Republic), North Czech Philharmonic Teplice, Korea Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Łódź Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (in a command performance for Prince Rainier and Prince Albert of Monaco), as well as a performance for the Spanish Royal Family in Madrid with conductor Helmut Rilling.  

He has also appeared with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, New Japan Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Příbram Philharmonic Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra, Prague Chamber Philharmonic, National Symphony of Ireland, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, and the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart.

In Canada, he has appeared with the orchestras of Toronto, Montreal, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

Mr. Zeller has been a featured artist throughout his home state of Oregon and has appeared regularly over the last 25 years with the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Astoria Festival, Portland Summerfest, Third Angle Music, and the Portland Chamber Orchestra. Zeller has sung and taught at the Astoria Music Festival in many productions including Il Trovatore, Maria Stuarda, La Traviata, Norma, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, and Otello, often appearing opposite Angela Meade, Ruth Ann Swenson, and Allan Glassman. He is a regular with the Oregon Symphony and has appeared with Pink Martini in their New Year’s Extravaganza concerts.

COLLABORATIONS

Conductors

Over the last 30 years, Zeller has collaborated in the operatic and concert field with many of the world’s best conductors.  They include: 

James Levine, James Conlon, Richard Bonynge, Christoph Eschenbach, Zdenec Macal, Franz Welser-Möst, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Edoardo Müller, Eri Klas, Bruno Campanello, Dennis Russell Davies , Gerard Schwartz, Anton Coppola, Helmuth Rilling, Mark Elder, Louis Langrée, Sir David Willcocks, Neeme Järvi, Michael Tilson Thomas, Donald Runnicles, Christian Thielemann, Philippe Auguin, Christopher Hogwood, Vjekoslav Šutej, Emmanuel Joel-Hornak , Joseph Colaneri, Daniel Oren, Paul Nadler, John Nelson, James DePriest, Carlos Kalmar, Steven Mercurio, Antonio Pappano, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Richard Armstrong, Keith Lockhart, Erich Kunzel, Andrew Litton, Marin Alsop, Lionel Friend, Marc Soustrot, Christopher Keene, Joseph Silverstein, Leopold Hager, Leonard Slatkin, Jahja Ling, Eiji Oue, Maximiamo Valdes, Zoltan Pesko, Marco Guidarini, Jonathon Darlington, Lawrence Foster, George Manahan, Herbert Blomstedt, Eduardo Mata, David Stahl, Taavo Virkhaus, Daniel Raiskin, Stephen Lord, Christian Badea, Semyon Bychkov, Julius Rudel, Bruno Bartoletti, Roberto Minczuk, Michael Christie, Graeme Jenkins, Guido Ajmone-Marson, Dale Johnson, Zuohuang Chen, Gunther Herbig, Bruno Campanella, Marc Trautmann, Gregory Vajda, JoAnn Falletta, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Jan Talich, Ken-David Masur, Stephen White, Antoni Ros Marba, Hans Vonk, Hugh Wolff, Christolph Campestrini, David Loebel, Norman Leyden, Michael Butterman, James Paul, Richard Westerfield, Robert Bass, James Judd, Istvan Jaray, Xian Zhang, Eckart Preu, Robert Franz, Alastair Willis, Keith Clark, John Keenan, Vance George, Robert Lyall, Dennis Keane, Scott Allen Jarrett, Stephan Sunderling, Brent McMunn, Christopher Warren-Green, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Gerhard Samuel, Murray Sidlin, Kenneth Kiesler, and Ken Selden.

SINGERS

He has appeared with many of the most acclaimed singers of the last 30 years.  They include Beverly Sills, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Alfredo Kraus, Deborah Voight, Jerry Hadley, Eileen Farrell, Anna Netrebko, Carol Neblett, James Morris, Ben Heppner, Sherrill Milnes, Denyce Graves, Marcello Giordani, Ruth-Ann Swenson, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Hildegard Behrens, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Thomas Hampson, Sondra Radvanovsky, Aprile Millo, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Leo Nucci, Christine Brewer, Hei-Kyung Hong, Sumi Jo, Richard Margison, Maria Guleghina, Angela Meade, David Daniels, Brian Asawa, Paul Plishka, Justino Diaz, Thomas Allen, Catherine Malfitano, John Alexander, Juan Pons, Italo Tajo, Renato Capecchi, Dawn Upshaw, Frank Lopardo, Paul Groves, Dwayne Croft, Alan Held, Allan Glassman, Roberto Aronica, Eric Halverson, Sharon Sweet, Patricia Racette, Richard Leech, Ramon Vargas, Robert Tear, June Anderson, Diana Soviero, Marco Berti, Dominic Cossa, Michelle DeYoung, Helen Donath, Dimitri Kavrakos, Evelyn Lear, Thomas Stewart, Sergei Leiferkus, Benjamin Luxon, David Malis, Dorothea Roschmann, Ermanno Mauro, Erie Mills, Sylvia McNair, Wendy White, Robert Orth, Michael Schade, Elena Zaremba, Robert Lloyd, Alexandra Deshorties, Matthew Polenzani, Morris Robinson, Florence Quivar, Christina Schafer, Bruno Pola, Sergei Koptchak, Lando Bartolini, Jeffrey Wells, Lucine Amara, Neil Rosenshein, Susan Quittmeyer, Maureen O’Flynn, Vladimir Matorin, Vladimir Ognovenko, Sergej Larin, Irina Mishura, John Cheek, Jay Hunter Morris, Angela Brown, Lauren Flanigan, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Mark Doss among many others.

RECORDINGS

Richard Zeller’s recordings include the critically acclaimed Merry Mount by Howard Hanson for Naxos, Deems Taylor’s Peter Ibbettson with Naxos, and the world premiere of Henri Lazarof's Fifth Symphony on Centaur Records - all recorded with Gerard Schwartz and the Seattle Symphony. He has recorded Dvorak's Te Deum with Zdenec Macal and the New Jersey Symphony for Delos, and David Schiff’s Gimpel the Fool for Naxos, as well as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 for Centaur Records, and Virgil Thompson's Lord Byron and Aaron Copland's The Tender Land for Koch International.  His most recent recording is Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with conductor Ken Selden and the Martingale Ensemble on MSR Classics.

• 2014 - Gustav Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, Martingale Ensemble, Ken Selden, conductor, MSR Classics.

• 2009 - Deems Taylor, Peter Ibbetson (Colonel Ibbetson), Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwartz, conductor, Naxos Records.

• 2007 - Howard Hanson, Merry Mount (Wrestling Bradford), Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwartz, conductor, Naxos Records.

• 2007 - David Shiff, Gimpel the Fool, Third Angle Music Group, Kenneth Kiesler, conductor, Naxos Records

• 2004  - Henri Lazarof, Fifth Symphony (World Premiere), Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwartz, conductor, Centaur Records

• 2003 - Antonin Dvorak, Te Deum, New Jersey Symphony, Zdenek Macal, conductor,  Delos Records.

• 2001 - Live From Lincoln Center: Mostly Mozart Festival, Mozart, Requiem, Gerard Schwartz, cond. (Emmy nominated nationwide television broadcast)

• 1999 - Aaron Copland, The Tender Land, Third Angle Music Group, Murray Sidlin, conductor, Koch International.

• 1993 - Johannes Brahms, Ein Deutches Requiem, The Choral Arts Society of Washington, Norman Scribner, conductor.

• 1993 - Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 (Gustav Mahler Re-Orchestration), Cincinnati Philharmonie Orchestra, Gerhard Samuel, conductor, Centaur Records.

• 1992 - Virgil Thompson, Lord Byron, Manadnock Music Festival, James Bolle, conductor, Koch International
  

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