Lauded by Opera News for his “inky bass-baritone and clear projection seemed ideally suited to the role, capturing this isolated man’s passion with telling grief,” Alfred Walker returns in 2021-22 to San Francisco Opera as Scarpia in Tosca, the Metropolitan Opera as Crown in Porgy and Bess, joins Washington National Opera as Mitchell in It All Falls Down, part of Written in Stone, a tetralogy of one-act operas by Carlos Simon and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and joins Washington Concert Opera as Nalikantha in Lakmé.
He recently joined Michigan Opera Theatre as Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, San Francisco Opera for Vater in Hansel and Gretel, Boston Lyric Opera for Oroveso in Norma and Washington National Opera for the title role in Porgy and Bess. Other recent performances include Titurel in Parisfal and the Speaker in The Magic Flute with the Metropolitan Opera, the Ruler in Das Wunder der Heliane with Bard Summerscape, Orest in Elektra with San Francisco Opera, Amonasro in Aida and Porgy in Porgy and Bess with Seattle Opera, Méphistophélès in Faust with Portland Opera and the Man with the Helmet in Martinů’s Julietta with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
The bass-baritone recently triumphed in the title role of Der fliegende Holländer at Theater Basel and returned to the company for his first performances of Amfortas in Parsifal and Amonasro in Aida. Other recent performances include Kurwenal in Tristan and Isolde at Angers Nantes Opera and Opéra de Dijon; his first performances of Wotan in Das Rheingold with North Carolina Opera; Méphistophélès in Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago; the title role of Der fliegende Holländer with Oper Köln, Seattle Opera, Théâtre de Caen, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Boston Lyric Opera and the Wagner Geneva Festival; the title role of Josh Gibson in the world premiere of Sonenberg’s The Player King with Pittsburgh Opera; Pizarro in Fidelio at the Caramoor International Music Festival; Bluebeard in Bluebeard’s Castle with the New Japan Philharmonic; Amonasro in Aida with Utah Opera; Creonte in Medea with the Opéra National de Lorraine; the four villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann with Komische Oper Berlin and Den Norske Opera, and Il Prologo in Gnecchi’s Cassandra with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
His celebrated characterization of Orest in Elektra has been seen at Teatro alla Scala, Seattle Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Spain’s San Sebastián Festival. He received great acclaim for performances as Allazim in the Peter Sellars’ production of Zaide at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Wiener Festwochen, London’s Barbican Center and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. He sang Telramund in concert performances of Lohengrin in Oviedo, Spain, under Semyon Bychkov and later joined the conductor and the WDR Sinfonie Orchester Köln for Lodovico in Otello. In lesser-known repertoire, he sang Kunrad in Feuersnot with the American Symphony Orchestra and König Karl in Schubert’s Fierrabras at the Bard Music Festival.
Walker is an equally versatile concert artist. He has sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Verdi’s Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano, as well as with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic and at the Sun Valley Music Festival. He has joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Rossini’s Stabat mater, as well as previously as Porgy in Porgy and Bess in performances conducted by Bramwell Tovey at Tanglewood and in Boston; the Grant Park Music Festival for Shostakovich’s The Execution of Stepan Razin and Elgar’s The Kingdom; the Handel and Haydn Society for Mozart’s Requiem; American Symphony Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall for Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Rückert-Lieder, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Toronto Symphony Orchestra in concert performances of Porgy and Bess.
Other concert performances include excerpts from Parsifal with the Baltimore Symphony; his debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis in Beatrice et Benedict; Verdi’s Requiem with Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with Boston Philharmonic, the Spoleto Festival USA and the Greensboro Symphony and Reno Philharmonic; performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, and a concert performance of Strauss’ Salome at the Tanglewood Festival with Seiji Ozawa. He has also presented recitals at the Manchester Music Festival.
His recording credits include another collaboration with Semyon Bychov and the WDR Sinfonie Orchester Köln as Orest in Elektra on the Hybrid label, as well as performances on Placido Domingo’s collection of Verdi tenor arias for Deutsche Grammophon.
A graduate of Dillard University, Loyola University and the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the New Orleans native is the recipient of awards from the George London Foundation, Palm Beach Opera Competition, Houston Opera Studio’s Eleanor McCollum Competition and the Sullivan Foundation.
