Chris Merritt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Merritt (born 1952, Oklahoma City) is an opera singer. He studied piano, singing, dance and drama at Oklahoma City University where he made his first stage appearance in Jacques Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann in a university production. At age 21, he was accepted into the summer season Apprentice Program for Singers at the Santa Fe Opera.
He made his official debut in 1975, as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. Auditions at the Metropolitan Opera won him a part in I Puritani in 1981, and that was the performance which brought him international attention and marked the beginning of a very successful career.
His high-lyrical tenor voice makes him one of the best Rossini performers of our time. He is one of very few tenors known for bel canto singing.
Most recently in 2006, Merritt has appeared in the American premiere production of Thomas Adès' The Tempest at the Santa Fe Opera.
