About this Artist

Starring as Tamino in the Kenneth Branagh film adaptation of The Magic Flute, conducted by James Conlon and released in 2007, JOSEPH KAISER is recognized by audiences for his beauty of tone, intelligence of programming, and innate sense of style and elegance.  He is internationally acclaimed as one of the most gifted artists of his generation and enjoys success in opera, oratorio, and concert throughout North America and Europe.

Mr. Kaiser’s 2012-13 season begins with performances as Flamand in Strauss’s Capriccio at the Opéra National de Paris in a production by Robert Carsen and conducted by Philippe Jordan.  Operatic engagements also include Houston Grand Opera’s mounting of the Francesca Zambello production of Showboat as the leading man Gaylord Ravenal, Dominick Argento’s The Aspern Papers at the Dallas Opera, Tamino in Robert Carsen’s production of Die Zauberflöte with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic at Teatro Real in Madrid, semi-staged performances of Capriccio at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden led by Sir Andrew Davis, and Christof Loy’s production of Gluck’s Alceste at the Vienna State Opera in the role of Admète.  Concert engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Toronto Symphony conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Robertson.

Past seasons’ highlights include performances at the Opéra National de Paris as Lensky in Eugene Onegin in a Willy Decker production conducted by Vasily Petrenko, and as Matteo in Strauss’s Arabella opposite Renée Fleming, a return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden singing the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte directed by David McVicar and conducted by Sir Colin Davis, appearances at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Steva Burja in Jenůfa in the acclaimed Barbara Frey production conducted by Tomáš Hanus, and at Deutsche Oper Berlin with conductor Donald Runnicles, at the Munich Festival as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni conducted by Constantinos Carydis, and bowing at the Metropolitan Opera as Flamand in Capriccio – opposite Renée Fleming - in a production by John Cox under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, as well as Stephen Wadsworth’s Rodelinda as Grimoaldo with Harry Bicket conducting, and as Pylades in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride at the Canadian Opera Company in a production by Robert Carsen conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. Concert highlights include performances of Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with Sir André Previn and the Gewandhausorchester, Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Vanished under the auspices of Chicago Opera Theater, Bruckner’s Te Deum with Daniel Barenboim and the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, and Bruckner’s Mass No. 3 in f minor conducted by Marek Janowski with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Mozart’s Requiem with the Mostly Mozart Festival under the baton of Louis Langrée, as well as with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted by Iván Fischer at Carnegie Hall.

Additional credits of the artist’s dynamic opera diary include the title role of Faust at the Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, the title role of Messager’s Fortunio in a new production by Denis Podalydès at the Opéra Comique under the baton of Louis Langrée, Admète in Gluck’s Alceste at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in a new production by Christoph Loy conducted by Ivor Bolton, and new productions at the Salzburg Festival of Händel’s Theodora directed by Christoph Loy and conducted by Ivor Bolton as well as of Eugene Onegin directed by Andrea Breth and conducted by Daniel Barenboim (both Salzburg productions are commercially available on DVD). 

Mr. Kaiser has bowed at the Metropolitan Opera in a diverse array of leading parts including the title role of Roméo et Juliette – opposite Anna Netrebko - under the baton of Plácido Domingo, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte conducted by Kirill Petrenko, and as Narraboth in Salome – opposite Karita Mattila – conducted by Patrick Summers and seen internationally on The Met: Live in HD experience.

Further highlights include a Los Angeles Opera debut as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte under the baton of James Conlon, a Covent Garden debut as Narraboth in a new David McVicar production of Salome under Philippe Jordan’s baton (commercially available on DVD), and the North American premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater at the Santa Fe Opera in a production by Peter Sellars.  Joseph Kaiser joined the prestigious Ryan Opera Center in the spring of 2004 and, during his residency with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, was involved in productions of The Midsummer Marriage, Fidelio, Aida, and Das Rheingold, singing under the batons of Sir Andrew Davis and Christoph von Dohnányi.  As a principal artist with the company, he has bowed in the title role of Roméo et Juliette as well as in Die Fledermaus, Salome, and Dialogues des Carmélites.

His concert schedule has included performances of the Berlioz Requiem under Marek Janowski with the combined forces of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande as well as with Donald Runnicles both with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Christoph von Dohnányi and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with Ivor Bolton and the Wiener Symphoniker, and with Christoph Eschenbach and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Roberto Abbado and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Sir Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra (at the Kimmel Center and at Carnegie Hall), and a European concert tour with soprano Annette Dasch and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern under the direction of Christoph Poppen.

Mr. Kaiser has appeared at the Caramoor Festival, in a joint program with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, which was presented under the auspices of the New York Festival of Song (commercially available on the Bridge Records label), in Chicago at the Chicago Humanities Festival, in Montreal with the André Turp Society, and on the Debut Series of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.  He joined a roster of emerging artists on a special gala program hosted by Renée Fleming and Sherrill Milnes, under the auspices of the George London Foundation and, as the Song Prize winner of the Julian Autrey Foundation, offered his New York solo recital debut, both at Weill Hall

A prize winner in the 2005 Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition, Joseph Kaiser also was recognized with the Robert Jacobson Memorial Grant by the George London Foundation,  first prizes at the Elardo Opera Competition and Orlando Opera Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actor Award, and numerous scholarships at McGill University.