American tenor Roy Cornelius Smith has earned recognition as one of the
leading tenors of his generation, distinguished by the richness and beauty
of his voice, his powerful dramatic portrayals, and his exceptional
musicianship. He has been heard on some of the world's great operatic
stages including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro
Colon, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Salzburger Festspiele, Norwegian National
Opera, Royal Danish Opera, and the Israeli Opera. He has also appeared
with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestra del
Teatro Carlo Felice, Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Vienna
Radio Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Netherlands Philharmonic, Yomiuri
Nippon Symphony and Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few.
Highlights of his performances include Otello (Israeli Opera, Oper
Leipzig, Royal Danish Opera, Nationaltheater Mannheim); Calaf (Deutsche
Opera Berlin, New Orleans, Birmingham, Mannheim, Vienna); Dick Johnson
(Lyric Opera of Chicago, Nashville Opera, Mannheim); Der Kaiser in Die
Frau ohne Schatten (Oper Leipzig); Arindal in Wagner’s first opera,
Die Feen (Oper Leipzig); Tristan (Nationaltheater Mannheim, San
Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, Emanceje International
Music Festival); Peter Grimes (Mannheim); Siegmund/Siegfried in Der
Ring an einem Abend (St. Gallen, Nationaltheater Mannheim); Doctor
Marianus in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (Teatro Colon); Canio in Pagliacci
(Norwegian National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Opera Las Palmas,
Nationaltheater Mannheim); Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana (Royal
Danish Opera, Nationaltheater Mannheim); Florestan in Fidelio
(Vienna); Max in Der Freischütz (Nationaltheater Mannheim);
Dionysus in Henze's The Bassarids; Eléazar in La Juive
(Opéra national du Rhin, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Nationaltheater
Mannheim, Staatsoper Hannover); Faust in Boito's Mefistofele
(Trondheim, Lucca and Rovigo); and Waldemar in Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder
with the Philharmonic Orchestra Altenburg Gera and Philharmonic Timisoara.
A past winner of the New York Metropolitan Opera Auditions, his
international debut occurred in 1998 at the prestigious Salzburger
Festspiele, where he sang Fatty, the Bookkeeper, in Kurt Weill's Aufstieg
und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (available on Kultur DVD/Video with
Catherine Malfitano and Dame Gwyneth Jones, conducted by Dennis Russell
Davies). Later that same season he reprised the role in English for the
Lyric Opera of Chicago. Other awards include the MacAllister Awards
including the "Audience Favorite Award", Licia Albanese/Puccini
International Voice Competition, Eleanor Steber Award from Baltimore
Opera, Opera America’s Sullivan/London Award, and the Erwin Johnson
International Vocal Competition.
Born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Mr. Smith received both Bachelor's and
Master's degrees in music from the University of Tennessee and a Doctor of
Musical Arts from the American Conservatory of Music. He currently resides
in Vienna, Austria.
March 2026