About this Artist

Dramatic tenor Issachah Savage is garnering acclaim as a “heldentenor par excellence” with “trumpet-like, clear, open-throated, powerful” singing (San Francisco Examiner). Praised for his “impressive natural instrument” (Opera News), he is the winner of the Seattle International Wagner Competition, earning the main prize, audience favorite prize, orchestra favorite prize, and a special honor by Speight Jenkins. 

In the 2021/22 season, Savage returns to LA Opera to sing the title role in Tannhäuser. On the concert stage, he sings Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the National Symphony Orchestra (Gianandrea Noseda), Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Fabio Luisi), and Los Angeles Philharmonic (Gustavo Dudamel), and returns to Cathedral Choral Society for Smyth’s March of the Women. 

Recent debuts include St. Louis Symphony and Handel and Haydn Society for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. He made his European debut as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and sang the part of Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, conducted by Paul Daniel. In concert, he sang Verdi’s Messa da requiem with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony in Australia.  

He made his LA Opera debut as Narraboth in Salome, conducted by James Conlon, and was heard with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars and in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.  

The tenor made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Don Riccardo in Verdi’s Ernani. He sang Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Canadian Opera Company and made his mainstage debut as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at Seattle Opera. He debuted at Houston Grand Opera and Austin Lyric Opera as Radames in Aida.  

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in Opera Voice Performance from the Catholic University of America.