Admired for his interpretive depth, vocal strength, and range of expressivity, tenor Paul Appleby is one of the most sought-after voices of his generation. Mr. Appleby continues to grace the stages of the world’s most distinguished concert halls and opera houses while collaborating with leading orchestras, instrumentalists, and conductors. 

Paul Appleby’s 2019-2020 season includes a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Vanya Kudrjas Katya Kabanova; debuts at the Houston Grand Opera as Jonathan Saul and Teatro Real Madrid as Tamino Die Zauberflöte; and his Russian debut as Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress with Stanislavsky Music Theatre Moscow. Mr. Appleby’s concert appearances include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Cleveland Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the San Diego Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Indianapolis Symphony, Schumann’s Dichterliebe with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and works by Britten and Schubert with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Society.

Paul Appleby has recently appeared in Bernstein’s Songfest with conductor Marin Alsop and The Juilliard Orchestra in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall and in a Carnegie presented solo recital at Zankel Hall; at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with the BBC Scottish Symphony; with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Ravinia Festival and under the baton of Riccardo Muti in Schubert’s Mass No. 6; with the Edinburgh International Festival in Handel’s Samson with the Dunedin Consort; at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the title role of Candide; with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concert performances of Die Zauberflöte and Mozart’s seldom heard Laut verkunde unsre; with the Bamberger Symphoniker for Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius; with the orchestra and chorus of the Opéra de Paris under the direction of Philippe Jordan in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict at the Palais Garnier; and in recital at Wigmore Hall with Malcolm Martineau. He has appeared on numerous occasions in North America and Europe with his frequent musical partner Manfred Honeck, and has toured North America extensively with pianists Natalia Katyukova and Ken Noda.

Mr. Appleby’s operatic performances span both world premieres and beloved classics and have included the title role of Pelléas et Mélisande at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and at Dutch National Opera led by Stéphane Denève; the world premiere of John Adams and Peter Sellars’ Girls of the Golden West (Joe Cannon) at the Dutch National Opera and San Francisco Opera; Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (Tom Rakewell) at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Oper Frankfurt, Metropolitan Opera, and at Dutch National Opera in a new production by Simon McBurney; new productions of Handel’s Saul (Jonathan) directed by Barrie Kosky and led by Ivor Bolton and of Béatrice et Bénédict (Bénédict) directed by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Antonello Manacorda at the Glyndebourne Festival; Die Zauberflöte (Tamino) at San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera; and Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (Fritz) at Santa Fe Opera. A frequent guest artist at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Appleby has appeared as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg conducted by James Levine, and in the lead role of Brian in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys under the baton of David Robertson.

Paul Appleby’s discography includes Nico Muhly’s opera Two Boys, released by Nonesuch, recorded live by the Metropolitan Opera; DVDs of Glyndebourne’s acclaimed presentation of Handel’s Saul (2015) and Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict (2016) released commercially by Opus Arte; Dear Theo, the first album dedicated solely to works by American composer Ben Moore released by Delos; and Songs and Structures, a 2018 portrait album of recent vocal and chamber works by composer Harold Meltzer released on Bridge Records; in addition to other recordings by Virgin Classics, and EMI’s Juilliard Sessions.

Mr. Appleby is a founding member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), where he will be featured this season at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and The Kennedy Center. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. A recipient of an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at The Juilliard School, he also earned a Master’s Degree from Juilliard and a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and in Music from the University of Notre Dame.