Thomas Trotter, tenor
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In the opera house or in the concert hall, Tenor Thomas Trotter is increasingly in demand to interpret roles in the tenor repertoire which require that special combination of a beautiful voice and a compelling dramatic presence. His performances have garnered rave reviews across the country, such as the from the Honolulu Advertiser, which wrote of his recent debut with Hawaii Opera Theatre as Li'l Bat in Susannah, "Thomas Trotter delivered one of the finest performances of the evening as Little Bat. The role, full of disjunct intervals, complex rhythms and roiling emotions, is extremely demanding. Trotter was believably loathsome and nailed his vocal parts with his steely clear tenor." Of his portrayal of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd with Toledo Opera the Toledo Blade wrote, "as Tobias, (Trotter) was absolutely splendid in the evening's final scenes." Furthermore, the American Record Guide wrote, "Tenor Thomas Trotter, an inspired actor, soared as the dim-witted Tobias. The show's last five minutes, five minutes that belonged to him alone, were the production's most searing." As Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw with Toledo Opera, he garnered the following praise from the Toledo Blade: "(Trotter's) clarion voice and fine diction allowed every word to be understood. So too his physical presence -- ever so slightly contorted in carriage and disembodied in affect -- carried with it great uneasiness." Opera News was also enthusiastic: "Thomas Trotter doubled as a bookish Prologue and a confident, convincingly rough-spirited Quint, with a notably chilling gait. His pleasant lyric tone and musical phrasing enabled him to do full justice to Britten's writing, and he commanded the haunting melismas on the name "Miles," which can linger on for hours in the listener's mind." Of his performance with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana the Arizona Daily Sun wrote, "Tenor Thomas Trotter put in a star turn with a characterization that moved the audience even before they heard a note of his singing, which was personable and communicative." And the New York Sun said of his performance of Jupiter in Semele with the Choral Symphony Society, "Thomas Trotter offered lovely renditions of Jupiter's sweetly erotic airs, especially the famous 'Where'er you walk'." These are but a few examples of the praise his work is earning from the press.
Mr. Trotter takes on roles which are diverse, and in addition to his aforementioned appearances in Honolulu and Toledo he has recently appeared as Tobias Ragg with Shreveport Opera, Li'l Bat with the New York Opera Project, Borsa in Rigoletto and Spoletta in Tosca with Hawaii Opera Theatre; Beppe in I pagliacci with New Orleans Opera; Spoletta in Tosca, Narraboth in Salome, Remendado in Carmen, and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Atlanta Opera; Third Jew in Salome with Kentucky Opera; Jacquino in Fidelio with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera; Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Minnesota Opera, Arizona Opera, and the Natchez Opera Festival; Gonzalve in L'heure éspagnole with New York City Opera; Tonio in La fille du régiment with New York City Opera National Company; the Pauper in the world premiere of Paul Schonfield's The Merchant and the Pauper with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Athena Grand Opera; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Birmingham; and Alfredo in La traviata with the Pittsburgh Opera Summer Series. He has appeared also with Florida Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Cleveland Opera, Washington Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre, among others.
Equally compelling on the concert stage, his recent appearances include, in addition to his aforementioned appearances the Flagstaff Symphony and the Choral Symphony Society, Carmina Burana with the Anchorage Symphony, the Mozart Requiem with both the Bangor Symphony and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, an all-Mozart program with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony; the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Britten's Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, and Handel's cantata for tenor and strings, Look Down, Harmonious Saint, at the Garth Newel Music Center; Carmina Burana with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic; "A Dutch Carol Christmas" with the Bronx Arts Ensemble; the Mozart Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony and with the Alabama Symphony; Die Schöpfung with the Peoria Symphony; Bach's Magnificat with the New Haven Chorale; Handel's Messiah and Carissimi's Jonah with Saint Bartholomew's Choir in New York City; Messiah with the Lexington Philharmonic; Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with the Macon Symphony; Vivaldi's Beatus vir with L'Orchestre des Beaux Arts in Paris, France; and Mendelssohn's Second Symphony with the Oratorio Singers of Westfield, New Jersey.
Mr. Trotter's work has also earned him numerous awards, in addition to the critical praise he has received. Among these are the Richard Gold Career Grant, presented by the Shoshonna Foundation and New York City Opera, World Finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, First Prize in the Florida Grand Opera/Young Patronesses of the Opera Voice Competition, and Second Prize in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition. He is also a featured vocalist on jazz pianist James Williams' last compact disc project, Jazz Dialogues and on the University of Georgia School of Music CD "Music at Georgia". He currently resides in Atlanta, where he maintains a private vocal studio.