Jamez McCorkle

An innate musician and trained pianist, American tenor Jamez McCorkle made headlines after his critically acclaimed appearance in the title role of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar which premiered at the Spoleto Festival in 2022 and was subsequently presented at LA Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and Carolina Performing Arts Center.This season, Omar premieres at the San Francisco Opera with McCorkle in the title role, making his company debut. He then sings his first Bacchus in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen and his first Lacain in Robert Carsen’s production of Jenůfa at Vlaamse Opera. On the concert platform he performs Handel Messiah at the US Naval Academy and sings Froh Das Rheingold with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi. Recent highlights include his hailed return to Spoleto Festival for an innovative staged production of Schumann’s Dichter liebe where he performed the famous song cycle accompanying himself at the piano; Duke of Cornwall Lear at the Bayerische Staatsoper; his house and role debut as Telemaco in a new production of Ilritornod’ Ulisse in patria with Theatre Basel; Peter the Honeyman in the hugely acclaimed production of Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera; Leonard Woolfe in KevinPuts’ new opera The Hours with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet Séguin; performances of Britten War Requiem with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; Tamino Die Zauberflöte with Kentucky Opera; Lensky Eugene Onegin with Michigan Opera Theatre and at the Spoleto Festival, where he also sang Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, McCorkle is an alumnus of the Mannes College,The New School for Music and Loyola University, New Orleans. He was a member of the International Opera Studio in Zurich and took part in the Young Artist Program of the Salzburg Festival in 2017. McCorkle was a finalist in the coveted Neue Stimmen competition in 2019 and is a winner of several awards and competitions including the George London Competition, Sullivan Foundation, Brava! Opera Competition, National Opera Association Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Gulf Coast Region.