Evan Lazdowski

• Education:
• - MM Voice, The Juilliard School, Class of 2022
• - BM Voice, Manhattan School of Music, Class of 2020
• Young Artist Programs:
• - Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program, 2022-present
• - Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist Program, 2024
• - Chautauqua Opera Studio Artist Program, 2023
• - Aspen Music Festival Renée Fleming Fellow, 2022
• - Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Gaddes Festival Artist, 2022
• - Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Gerdine Young Artist, 2020 and 2021
• Other Training:
• - Chautauqua Opera Conservatory, 2019-2021
• - Houston Grand Opera Young Artists Vocal Academy, 2018
• Competitions:
• - Met Opera Laffont Competition, DC-Maryland-Virginia District Winner, 2023
• - Dorothy Lincoln-Smith National Vocal Competition, 2nd Place, 2023
• - Houston Grand Opera Concert of Arias, Finalist, 2022
• - Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, Finalist, 2021
• - CS Music Musical Theatre Vocal Competition, Finalist, 2021
• - Met Opera Laffont Competition, Upper Midwest Regionals Encouragement Winner, 2021
• - Shirley Rabb Winston Scholarship (Top Prize), 2020
• - Gerda Lissner Foundation Lieder/Song Competition, Encouragement Award, 2019
• - YoungArts Winner/Alum, 2017
• Other Accolades:
• - Richard Gaddes Career Award, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, 2021
• - Hugh Ross Commencement Award, Manhattan School of Music, 2020
• - Nominee for Best Supporting Actor, New Hampshire Theatre Awards, 2016

Praised in Opera News for his "warm, hearty bass-baritone," Evan Lazdowski is a second-year Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist. Recent productions with Pittsburgh Opera have included Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro and Antonio), Ariodante (Il Re), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Basilio). Upcoming engagements with the company include Iphigénie en Tauride (Thoas), Proving Up (Sodbuster), and La traviata (Marchese d'Obigny).

Evan's other recent engagements have included his debut with Berkshire Opera Festival, where he joined the cast of La bohème (Colline); and a Studio Artist residency at Chautauqua Opera, where performances included Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd, cover; Chorus) and La Tragédie de Carmen (Zuniga/Garcia). He also appeared with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's Mass in C Major (Bass Soloist).

In the 2023-24 season, Evan was a Winner of the DC-Maryland-Virginia District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He was also a guest artist at Duquesne University for "Chopin/Schumann on the Bluff," a recital in which he sang selections from Chopin's 17 Polish Songs; he performed the program alongside members of the Duquesne voice and music faculties. Upcoming events include Evan's return to the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, with whom he will perform Verdi's Requiem (Bass Soloist). In the summer of 2024, he will be a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, where he will be seen in Elizabeth Cree (Mr. Lister/Karl Marx/Voiceover/Solomon Weil/Witness #8) and the world premiere of Rumplestiltskin and the Unlovable Children (Rumplestiltskin).

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2021-22 highlights included Evan's debuts at Madison Square Garden, singing the national anthem for the New York Rangers; and at Alice Tully Hall, singing selections from Songs of Travel for Juilliard's Wednesdays at One series. He was a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Concert of Arias and the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition. Operatic performances included The Magic Flute (Papageno, cover; Speaker) at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gaddes Festival Artist, Don Giovanni (Il Commendatore) at the Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist, and The Rake's Progress (Nick Shadow) with Juilliard Opera.

Evan made his Opera Theatre of Saint Louis debut in 2021 and was awarded the company's Richard Gaddes Career Award. As a Gerdine Young Artist, he was featured in Gianni Schicchi (Simone, cover; the Notary). Subsequently, Evan appeared in the 2021 OTSL Center Stage concert, performing scenes from Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso) and La fille du régiment (Sulpice); for these scenes, he was applauded for giving "two outstanding comic performances" (KDHX.org).

Other full operatic performance credits include Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro), I due Figaro (Figaro), I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Capellio), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theseus), Les pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad), and Così fan tutte (Guglielmo). Evan has covered roles such as Falstaff in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor , Il Sacerdote di Minerva in Teseo, and Zuniga in Carmen.

Evan's concert credits include the bass solos in Carissimi's Jephte (conducted by Kent Tritle) and Charpentier's Le Reniement de St. Pierre (conducted by Bryan Zaros), with both performances taking place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He was also the bass solo cover for Pulcinella, performed by the Juilliard Orchestra and conducted by Barbara Hannigan. Evan has been seen in recital with Mikael Eliasen, and sang Ibert's Chansons de Don Quichotte in Natalia Katyukova's 2021 Juilliard Liederabend.

Evan was a 2021 Upper Midwest Regionals Encouragement Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Past awards include the Shirley Rabb Winston Scholarship (Top Prize), 2nd place in the Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Voice Competition, and 1st place at the New Hampshire NATS Art Song Festival. He is a proud YoungArts Winner and alum.

In the realm of musical theatre, Evan has appeared at the Jerome Robbins Theatre in New York City, as a part of the 2017 YoungArts New York Showcase. In said showcase, he performed songs and scenes from South Pacific (Emile) under the direction of Tony-nominated actor Michael McElroy. At Manhattan School of Music, Evan performed scenes and songs from shows such as I Do! I Do! (Michael) under the direction of Carolyn Marlow.

He has performed in regional theatre productions of musicals/plays such as Show Boat (Chorus), Evita (Soloist), Annie (voice-over for The Radio Announcers), Addams Family (Mal Beineke, cover), and Twelfth Night (Valentine). In 2016, for a production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (William Barfée), he was a finalist for Best Supporting Actor at the New Hampshire Theatre Awards.

Evan has provided voice-overs for student projects at the NYU Maurice Kanbar Institute for Film & Television. Theses credits include a lead role in an audio drama (Submerged) and documentary narration (Mooseback). Both of these projects were conceptualized and directed by Simon Geisker, a fellow YoungArts winner.

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Evan holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music. He has received additional training at Houston Grand Opera's Young Artists Vocal Academy, and has sung in master classes taught by Denyce Graves, Craig Rutenberg, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Joan Lader, Sierra Boggess, Tony Yazbeck, and Santino Fontana. Evan is a current student of baritone Elliot Madore.