His upcoming engagements include performances Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus which will be recorded and broadcast with RTVE in Spain, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera for La Forza del Destino . His recent engagements include his company debut at Teatre Principal Mallorca as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, his company debut with Chemnitz Oper as Heerrufer in Lohengrin, his role debut as Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at San Francisco Opera, which was praised as a “deft performance” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and his company debut at the Salzburger Landestheater as Marcello in La Bohème, which was heralded as “show stealing” and “magnificent”.
Mr. Pershall joined the prestigious Vienna State Opera in 2014, where he performed roles such as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, and Sebastian in The Tempest. He made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera in 2015 in the role of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and returned in subsequent seasons as Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda. Mr. Pershall also made an appearance at Carnegie Hall as Lord Nottingham in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux with Maestra Eve Queller, to great acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Mr. Pershall has also been seen as Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at San Francisco Opera, as a soloist in the Central Park Summer Concert Series named Opera Italiana, and as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Des Moines Metro Opera Festival.
David is an avid concert performer and recitalist. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, The Sergio Franchi Foundation, the Yale School of Music, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, the La Jolla Music Society, at San Francisco Opera, and at Stanford University to name a few. He was the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and in A Sea Symphony with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. His most recent lieder recital at San Francisco Opera was lauded as being “wonderful to witness” by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Mr. Pershall also collaborated with the prestigious Beethoven Easter Festival in Poland where he performed the roles of Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride and Manfredo in L’Amore dei Tre Re. A favorite of American stages, Mr. Pershall has performed at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall), the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Washington National Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera, San Francisco Opera, Minnesota Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and many more.
Mr. Pershall has won First Prize in several international competitions, including the George London Award, the Gerda Lissner Competition, the Jensen Foundation, the Marcello Giordani Foundation, the New Jersey Verismo Competition, the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, and the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice. He is received several awards from other prestigious competitions such as The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Giulio Gari Foundation, the Opera Index Competition, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation and the National Bel Canto Vocal Competition.
David Pershall received his training at the Yale School of Music and is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.