tenor
BIO
Tenor John Pickle is an established and versatile force on both the operatic and concert stages. His unique vocal quality lends itself to a wide variety of repertoire in the tenor catalogue. Remarking on a recent performance of Don José in Carmen with Toledo Opera, the Toledo Blade wrote “Pickle’s ability to crank out a high Bb’s pianissimo is the stuff of which Metropolitan dreams are made. His third act tribute to his dying mother is artistically moving to the point of drawing tears,” and Opera News noted of a production of Die Fledermaus with Florentine Opera that "John Pickle possibly won the vocal laurels as Alfred, but then Alfred gets to show off the most. Pickle’s gleaming tenor registered charmingly in his interpolated snatches of various arias…"
The 2023-2024 season brings performances of Calaf in Turandot with Opera Delaware, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Akron Symphony, Mozart's Requiem with Canton Symphony, and concerts with Cleveland Pops and Pittsburgh Festival Opera.
During the 2022-2023 season, Pickle performed Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opera Colorado, Don José in Carmen with Pacific Opera Victoria, and a concert of opera’s greatest hits with Maryland Opera. The 2021/22 season included appearances as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Don José in Carmen with Painted Sky Opera, soloist in concert with the Bel Canto Center for the Performing Arts, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Canton Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart’s Requiem with Pacific Symphony.
Additional recent engagements include Canio in Pagliacci with Opera Colorado, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Memphis, Dayton Opera, and Opera Delaware; Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Los Angeles Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Lyric Opera Kansas City, Mobile Opera, and Utah Festival Opera; Cavardossi in Tosca with Nashville Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Opera Southwest, Tri-Cities Opera, and Townsend Opera; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Pacific Symphony, Florida Grand Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, and Dayton Opera; Don José in Carmen with Opera Tampa, Nevada Opera, and Opera Louisianne; Pollione in Norma with Lyric Opera Chicago (cv), and Opera Southwest; Radamés in Aïda with Dayton Opera; Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera with Opera Tampa; Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opera Delaware; Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut and Calaf in Turandot with Mobile Opera; Manrico in Il trovatore with Intermountain Opera Bozeman; Judge Danforth in The Crucible with Utah Festival Opera, and Rodolfo in La bohème with Colorado Symphony, Opera Southwest, Nevada Opera, and Baltimore Concert Opera. Of a particular performance as Rodolfo, critics raved: “John Pickle brings a resilient, wonderfully placed sound and a sensitive musicality to Rodolfo that embraces each nuance of this rich score with an enviable mix of delicacy and strength.”
Mr. Pickle has also excelled in concert appearances throughout the country. He made his Houston Symphony debut under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach as the tenor soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, of which Culture Map Houston declared, “As for the men, tenor John Pickle's lyrical dominance reverberated courtesy of his clear musical vision and intensifying pacing."
Concert engagements in recent seasons have included Verdi’s Requiem with Dayton Philharmonic, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Opera Grand Rapids, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and DCINY in Carnegie Hall and Barcelona’s famed Palau de la Música Catalana; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Dayton Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony, The Orchestra Now, Lima Symphony, Long Bay Symphony, and National Chorale; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Dayton Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Utah Festival Opera; Kodaly’s Te Deum with Oregon Music Festival, Eugene Suchon’s Psalm of the Carpathian Land with Sonomento and Kenwood Symphonies; and operatic greatest hits concerts with Florentine Opera, Santa Barbara Symphony, Lyric Opera of Virginia, Northwest Arkansas Symphony, Mobile Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Opera Idaho and the Boise Philharmonic, and St. Bart’s Music Festival.
Pickle made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2008, performing Schubert’s Mass in G Major and Mozart’s Requiem conducted by John Rutter, and also performed Mozart’s Requiem in that famed hall again in 2012. Additionally, he performed Beethoven’s Mass in C Major with New Jersey Choral Society, Gabriello and Un Cantore in Giordano’s rarely performed La cena delle beffe with Teatro Grattacielo in Alice Tully Hall, and Victor Herbert’s 150th Birthday Celebration with Little Orchestra Society.