(Credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera)

This week the Santa Fe Opera is set to open a new production of “Falstaff” by Sir. David McVicar. The work will star many well-established names in the industry as well as several rising stars who have begun making names for themselves over the past few years. One of those rising stars is American tenor Eric Ferring, who is set to make his role debut as Fenton and his principal artist debut with the company.

Ferring was an apprentice singer for Santa Fe in 2017 and has since performed with the Metropolitan Opera in 33 performances during the 2021-22 season when he made his house debut. He performed in four productions including “Turandot,” “Die Zauberflöte,” “Don Carlos,” and “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Three of the four productions were live in HD and OperaWire noted that Ferring showcases a “a beautiful tone.”

Now after a whirlwind Met season, Ferric returns to Santa Fe and the tenor told OperaWire, “Being back at Santa Fe after being an Apprentice Singer in 2017 is a dream come true. Our cast of ‘Falstaff’ is unbelievably talented and supportive of each other, and at the helm of our clever, innovative production is Sir David McVicar who has been such a joy to learn from and collaborate with. I’m so grateful to SFO for giving me the opportunity to sing my role debut of Fenton here and hope for many collaborations in the future!”

Ferring has won such competitions as George London Foundation for Singers, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, American Opera Society of Chicago, and Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Classical Voice Competition. He has also won such awards as the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and grants from the Richard Tucker Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Outside of his solo career, he is the Project Curator for Lexicon Classics and helps artists through every part of the album building journey from concept creation, repertoire selection, and scheduling, through to digital and hard copy release.

Next season he will continue to expand his international audience as he will perform in opera houses in Strasbourg, Rouen, and Paris, where he will make his house debut.

Recordings 

For those not familiar with the tenor’s voice, Ferring will release his solo debut album for Lexicon Classics entitled “No Choice but Love” and will highlight LGBTQIA+ voices and perspectives. The tenor also has two digital releases and is featured in the world premiere recording of “Shalimar the Clown.”

Here he is singing an aria from “Manon.”