About this Artist

Canadian bass-baritone DANIEL OKULITCH (Saul) is a leading interpreter of Mozart roles, most notably Don Giovanni, Almaviva, and Figaro, which he has performed at New York City Opera, Teatro Colón, LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Moscow Philharmonic, Opera Warsaw, Vancouver Opera, Dallas Opera, New Orleans Opera, Portland Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Hawaii Opera, Manitoba Opera, and Lyric Opera Kansas City. Okulitch has also equally excelled in creating leading roles in contemporary opera, most notably the roles of Ennis del Mar in Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain at Teatro Real in Madrid and New York City Opera; Mark Rutland in Nico Muhly’s Marnie at English National Opera; Seth Brundle in Howard Shore’s The Fly at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and at LA Opera; Willy Wonka in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Atlanta Opera; LBJ in JFK with Fort Worth Opera and Opéra de Montréal; and Herman Broder in Ben Moore’s Enemies, A Love Story at Palm Beach Opera.

Engagements this season include performances as General Groves in a new production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic at Santa Fe Opera and in the title role in Handel’s Saul with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Okulitch also returns to Calgary Opera as Beck Weathers in the Canadian premiere of Joey Talbot’s Everest and to Manitoba Opera in the title role of Don Giovanni. He makes his debut with the San Diego Symphony as baritone soloist in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.

Okulitch’s career first garnered national attention when he appeared as Schaunard in the original cast of Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning Broadway production of La Bohème. Other career highlights include his La Scala debut as Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; his Washington National Opera debut in the role of Swallow in Peter Grimes, which he also performed at La Scala; Creonte in Médée with Opera Genève; his return to Vancouver Opera as Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking; and his role debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni at Opéra de Montréal.

Okulitch can be heard on the original cast recording of Baz Luhrmann’s production of La Bohème, Chausson’s Le Roi Arthus with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Pasatieri’s Frau Margot, and David DiChiera’s Cyrano de Bergerac. His first solo recording, The New American Art Song, featuring the songs of Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Lowell Liebermann, and Glen Roven, was released on GPR Records in March of 2011. 

Daniel Okulitch is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including first prize from the George London Foundation, the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation and the Sullivan Foundation, and second prize from the Licia Albanese / Puccini Foundation Competition. Daniel Okulitch received an artist diploma in opera from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and earned his bachelor’s and Master of Arts degrees in voice and opera from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.