Jeffrey Picón

Tenor Jeffrey Picón has proven his versatility as a concert and opera singer in a diverse selection of repertoire. Highlights of recent seasons include his New York City Opera debut in performances of Carmen, Cendrillon,Madama Butterfly, and Tosca. Debuts with the Oregon Bach Festival, the Rochester Philharmonic, Long Island Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and the United States tour of Bernstein on Broadway with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Michael Barrett and featuring Leonard’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein. His Arizona Opera debut in Zemire et Azor, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Opera Company of North Carolina; both Ramiro in La Cenerentola, and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Paolino in Il Matrimonio Segreto with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Trouble in Tahiti with the Caramoor Festival; Fenton in Falstaff with Mississippi Opera; and Tony in West Side Story with the Ash Lawn Opera Festival.

Picón began his professional career as one of the youngest members to participate in the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and impressed audiences there with performances in Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni. Other engagements for the native Texan have included Die Entführung aus dem Serail, L’Orfeo, and Arianna with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Dallas Opera; and roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and Il barbiere di Siviglia with Portland Opera Repertory Theatre; Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and Wolf Trap Opera; Les Contes d’Hoffmann with the Opera Company of Philadelphia; The Rape of Lucretia for Opera Festival of New Jersey; Il barbiere di Siviglia and Semele for Anchorage Opera; Falstaff andSalomé with Pittsburgh Opera; and the national touring production of Don Giovanni with Western Opera Theatre.

Equally accomplished on the recital stage, Picón made his Schwabacher Debut Recital in Latin Lovers: Music from South America and Cuba presented by the San Francisco Opera with pianist Steven Blier. Recent concert appearances include Teatro Españoles and Songs of War and Peace with New York Festival of Song, Janacek's From the House of the Dead with the American Symphony Orchestra; Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes with Moab Music Festival, Ned Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and his solo recital debut in Marquette, Michigan. He has appeared with New York Festival of Song at the Moab Music Festival; the Performing Arts Society in Washington, D.C.; Wolf Trap Opera; and at Weill Recital Hall.

Picón can be heard most recently on recording as soloist for Berlioz Requiem with Oklahoma City University. He is also heard as Mike on the recording of William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, which marked his debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago. He is featured on The Music Teacher, an off-Broadway play/opera by Wallace Shawn and Allen Shawn for the New Group, which ran at the Minetta Lane Theater for seven weeks. His television broadcast debut was in December 2003 in the PBS production of Fiesta at the Philharmonic with the Naples Philharmonic, led by Erich Kunzel. Recently, Picón was part of the Emmy Award-winning production of Madama Butterfly for New York City Opera’s “Live from Lincoln Center.” He is a graduate of the University of North Texas and the Curtis Institute of Music and is an instructor of voice at Oklahoma City University.