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The two-time Juno and Ruby Award-winning Tenor, John Tessier, garners praise and attention for the beauty and honesty of his voice. Career highlights include performances at the Teatro alla Scala Milano, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colón, Oper Frankfurt, Grand Théâtre de Genève, English National Opera, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, New Zealand Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Taiwan Philharmonic, Wiener Musikverein, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Seattle Symphony, the Sydney Symphony, L.A. Philharmonic and the Toronto Symphony. Equally comfortable in opera, oratorio and recital genres, Mr. Tessier is a full professor at the University of Alberta. His discography includes recordings on the Decca, Naxos, Telarc, BIS, Challenge Records, Cappella Records and Dorian labels.

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JOHN TESSIER, Tenor

On the international stages of opera, concert, and recital, Canadian John Tessier garners praise and attention for the beauty and candor of his voice, a refined style and creative versatility, and his handsome presence in the lyric tenor repertoire.

During the 2026-27 season John Tessier returns to Edmonton Opera to reprise his acclaimed portrayal of Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and he makes a much-anticipated return to Vancouver Opera also in Rossini’s same comedic masterpiece.

Last season John Tessier made a role debut as Mime at Edmonton Opera in the Jonathan Dove reduction of Wagner’s Siegfried. Highlights of the past also include a new production at Edmonton Opera of Die Fledermaus directed by Artistic Director Joel Ivany, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Calgary Opera directed by Stefania Panighini led by Jacques Lacombe, and a presentation of the Mozart Coronation Mass in C Major, K. 317 with music director Rune Bergmann leading the Calgary Philharmonic.

The leading Canadian tenor has bowed at the Wiener Staatsoper in productions of Il barbiere di Siviglia, La fille du Régiment, and I Puritani and made his debut at Teatro alla Scala in a new production directed by Sir David McVicar of Cavalli’s La Calisto led by Christophe Rousset. Career highlights include the role of Steve Wozniak in Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Calgary Opera, Die Fledermaus in a fully-staged production at the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy with Diego Matheuz leading the Saito Kinen Orchestra, Mozart’s classic Don Giovanni as directed and with a new English libretto by Joel Ivany presented by Edmonton Opera, and Cherubini’s Médée at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées conducted by Christophe Rousset in a new production by Krzysztof Warlikowski. On leading international opera stages John Tessier has appeared in Les pêcheurs de perles and Maria Stuarda led by Carlo Montanaro at Seattle Opera, a new Jonathan Miller production of The Elixir of Love at English National Opera and the New York City Opera, Der fliegende Holländer under the baton of Jeffrey Tate at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Il barbiere di Siviglia with New Zealand Opera, and both a role debut as Massenet’s Werther and his acclaimed portrayal of Prince Ramiro in Rossini’s La cenerentola for Manitoba Opera. Concert appearances include the world premiere of the Jonathan Leshnoff oratorio, Sacrifice of Isaac with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d' Astrée on tour in Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Milan, Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette with the Taiwan Philharmonic and Te Deum under the direction of Charles Dutoit at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach’s St. Matthew Passionwith Iván Fischer and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, Mozart’s Requiem with Hervé Niquet leading the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Carmina Burana with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony. Additional highlights of past seasons feature Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Haydn’s “Mass in the Time of War” with Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust with the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. John Tessier’s extensive recording catalogue includes Mozart’s Requiem both with Sir Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy, John Corigliano’s A Dylan Thomas Trilogy with Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony, Stephen Paulus’ To Be Certain of the Dawn with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Haydn’s The Creation with Dame Jane Glover leading Music of the Baroque.

AUGUST 2026: PLEASE DESTROY PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS

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