Tony Boutté
Tony Boutté (tenor) was described in a recent issue of Opera News as “possessed of a radiant, communicative tenor." A native of Louisiana, Tony made his operatic debut as Orfeo in Stephen Wadsworth’s groundbreaking Monteverdi Cycle with Skylight Opera. He has sung extensively, here and abroad, including New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles, with his Carnegie Hall debut coming in 2006 singing Handel’s Messiah.
Tony has regularly appeared with various top-notch ensembles, including Les Arts Florissants, Tafelmusik, Les Talens Lyriques, Ars Lyrica Houston and Washington Bach Consort. In addition, Tony has been fortunate enough to perform in several prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall (NYC), Cité de la Musique (Paris), Mozarteum’s Großer Saal (Vienna), Opera Royal de Versailles (France), Lincoln Center (NYC), Kennedy Center (DC), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Washington National Cathedral (DC) and Walt Disney Hall (LA). Tony’s festival appearances include Aspen Music Festival (USA), Bard Festival (USA), Schleswig-Holstien (Germany), Settembre Musica Torino (Italy), Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele (Austria), Aldeburgh Festival (UK), Versailles Festival (France) and Tage Alte Muzik Regensburg (Germany).
An active recording artist, Tony has an extensive catalog of over 20 discs, including works by Lully, Handel and Bach, as well as multiple world premier recordings. Recent releases include Fauré songs (Edition Peters Sounds) and music of Boismortier (Centaur) with Arcanum Ensemble. A recent review of the Fauré disc by the The Guardian (London) noted that Tony sang “with exhilarating passion.” His numerous recordings and performances of contemporary works include John Eaton’s Benjamin Button (Symphony Space), Arjuna’s Dilemma by Douglas Cuomo (BAM), Michael Gordon’s Chaos, Betsy Jolas’ Motet III, Bang on a Can’s Carbon Copy Building and In the Penal Colony by Philip Glass.
Tony holds a BA from Louisiana Tech University, an MM from Eastman School of Music, and a DMA from University of Maryland. He also pursued advanced studies at the Britten-Pears School (Aldeburgh, UK) where he coached many works by Benjamin Britten with the late tenor, Sir Peter Pears. Tony is currently Full Professor of Music at Sam Houston State University (Texas). In addition, Tony co-directs ARCANUM, a baroque ensemble now based in Houston, and is artistic director of New American Voices, an initiative created to champion and perform new American works for voice through the collaboration of singer and composer.
One of Tony’s most recent successes was as the protagonist in Douglas Cuomo’s one-man opera Savage Winter, presented by the Next Wave Festival at Brooklyn Academy of Music 2018. Opera News (Feb. 2019) called it “a heroic performance.” For more information on Tony and his upcoming performances, visit www.tonyboutte.com.