Performer Bio: Scott Guinn, baritone

Praised by Opera News for his “firm yet supple tone,” Scott Guinn has won accolades for his performances in a repertoire ranging from Purcell to Puccini and Mozart to Verdi.  In the 2010-2011 season he will debut with Asheville Lyric Opera as Papageno Die Zauberflöte.  In the spring he will sing De Brétigny in Knoxville Opera’s production of Manon.  In addition to these performances, Mr. Guinn will present recitals in Knoxville; Pembroke, NC; and Hartsville, SC featuring a program based on the poetry of Walt Whitman.

Last season Mr. Guinn debuted with El Paso Opera in his first performances as Marcello in La Bohème. He was also heard at the American Choral Directors Association Southern Division’s conference as a guest soloist performing William Averitt’s Passion According to St. Matthew.  During the 2008-2009 season he appeared with New York City Opera as Thidias in their Carnegie Hall performances of Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra.  The 2007-2008 season featured performances of Ping in Turandot with Opera Memphis, and Baritone I in Purcell’s King Arthur and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly at New York City Opera.  Concert appearances included Sarasota Opera’s autumn concert series and performances of Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the Columbia (SC) Choral Society.

Mr. Guinn began the 2006-2007 season with the Houston Bach Society soloing in Bach’s Coffee Cantata and Hercules Cantata. This was followed by his company debut at New York City Opera as Samuel in a new production of The Pirates of Penzance and Baron Douphol in La Traviata. Appearances also included Schaunard in La Bohème with the Pro Cantus Lyric Opera in McAllen, Texas. He opened the 2005-2006 season appearing in New York City Opera’s season opening “Opera For All” concert and made his Sarasota Opera debut as Schaunard. He followed this with another important debut, this time at Carnegie Hall, singing Mozart’s Solemn Vespers.

With the Lyric Opera Cleveland – now Opera Cleveland – he added Guglielmo in Così fan tutte to his growing number of leading Mozart credits. In recent seasons, he has also sung Falke in Die Fledermaus, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Angelotti in Tosca. On the concert stage, the baritone has been a soloist with the Knoxville Symphony, Memphis Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, and Augusta Symphony.

Championing new and twentieth century works, Mr. Guinn performed Gideon March and Dashwood in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, also with Lyric Opera Cleveland.  In 2008 he appeared in New York City Opera’s VOX Program performing Katis in Cary Ratcliff’s Eleni and Dr. Monteur in Sorrell Hayes’s Our Giraffe.  In addition, his repertoire spans that of other noted contemporary composers including Rachel Portman, Michael Ching, Robert Ward, and William Averitt.

A 2005 Southeast Regional Winner and National Semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Scott Guinn was a finalist in the 2006 Opéra National de Paris Atelier Lyrique, a two time semi-finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers and is an alumnus of the Knoxville Opera Studio.