Ben Heppner

Ben Heppner is recognized worldwide as the finest dramatic tenor before the public today. He excels in the most challenging roles, from Wagner’s Tristan and Lohengrin to Verdi’s Otello and Berlioz’s Aeneas. He is acclaimed in music capitals around the world for his beautiful voice, intelligent musicianship, and sparkling dramatic sense. His performances on the opera stage, in concert with the world’s leading orchestras, in the most prestigious recital venues, and on recordings have set new standards in his demanding repertoire.

At the beginning of last season, Mr. Heppner gave a solo recital at Carnegie Hall and returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Idomeneo. He was later heard at the Met in Andrea Chénier. In Europe he sang Act III of Siegfried with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England, and he toured with the Rotterdam Philharmonic throughout Germany to sing arias from Die Walküre and Siegfried. In January he sang recitals in seven towns in his native British Columbia, Canada, followed by two concert performances of Tristan und Isolde with the Montreal Symphony. Mr. Heppner concluded his season with performances of Lohengrin at the Paris Opera and Vienna State Opera.

Mr. Heppner joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony for James Levine’s first concerts as the Orchestra’s Music Director. His large orchestral repertoire also includes Das Lied von der Erde, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus, Britten’s War Requiem, and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. He has performed these and other works with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, the MET Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Conductors he has worked with include Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Christian Thielemann, Sir Andrew Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel, Sir Charles Mackerras, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Seiji Ozawa, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Mr. Heppner can be heard on RCA Red Seal on several solo discs, including My Secret Heart, Dedication, Ben Heppner Sings German Romantic Opera, and Great Tenor Arias. His complete opera recordings include Lohengrin, Turandot, and Fidelio for RCA Red Seal, Die Meistersinger for both Decca and EMI, Rusalka for Decca, Hérodiade and Oberon for EMI, Der fliegende Holländer for Sony, Die Frau ohne Schatten for Teldec, and Ariadne auf Naxos for Deutsche Grammophon. He recently became an exclusive artist for Deutsche Grammophon; his current release is a disc of arias from Wagner’s Die Walküre and Siegfried.

Mr. Heppner studied music at the University of British Columbia. He first gained national attention in 1979 as the winner of the Canadian Broadcasting Company Talent Festival. In December 1998, CBC television’s Something Special featured Ben Heppner in an hour-long portrait of the artist. He is a 1988 winner of the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and he received Grammy awards in 1998 for his recording of Die Meistersinger on London/Decca records and in 2001 for his recording of Les Troyens with the London Symphony Orchestra on LSO Live. Mr. Heppner is an Officer of the Order of Canada. For more information about Ben Heppner, visit benheppner.com