Michael St. Peter
Michael St. Peter is a Chicago native currently based in New York City. Hailed for his “…warm, beautiful and true” singing (Chicago Classical Review), he is recognized as a performer whose, “…attention to detail both emotionally and musically was profound” (Opera Wire). Michael’s career began at an early age with Chicago Opera Theatre and Lyric Opera of Chicago from 2004-2006, where he sang roles in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mustardseed), Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Amore) and performed as a member of the children’s ensemble in productions of Tosca, and Carmen.
This season, Michael joins the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra for performances of Mozart’s Requiem, conducted by Maestro Joshua Habermann. Soon after, he joins Music of the Baroque for performances of Haydn’s Creation Mass (Schöpfungsmesse), under the baton of Dame Jane Glover. This summer, Michael performs with Haymarket Opera Company singing the role of Colin in L’amant anonyme by Joseph Bologne the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
This past 2020/2021 season was met with many cancellations and challenges due to the Pandemic. Through the hard work and planning of Haymarket Opera Company, Michael was fortunate to perform the role of Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. This ‘Covid-Safe” production was filmed on a sound stage at Chicago’s own Resolution Studios in October of 2020 and was then made available by ticket for streaming at home. The recording was subsequently broadcast on WFMT as a premier for their summertime Opera Series on June 12th, 2021.
During the 2019/2020 season, Michael was chosen to take part in the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London, England. He then made his debut with Haymarket Opera Company, singing the role of The Moore of Moore Hall in a critically acclaimed revival of John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley.
Michael kicked off the 2018/2019 season with a debut at Carnegie Hall singing Handel’s Messiah under the baton of Maestro Mark Shapiro and The Cecilia Chorus of New York. A lover of new music, Michael also had the pleasure of workshopping two new operas for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terrence Blanchard, and Awakenings by Tobias Picker. He ended the season making his debut with Tulsa Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.
In 2012, he began his bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School. A year later he made his Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall in a Benjamin Britten Songfest, coached and played by Brian Zeger. Credits with Juilliard Opera include L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Le petit vieillard) and La Calisto (Mercurio). Other credits include Werther (Schmidt), Ariodante (Lurcanio), Der Zauberflöte (Monostatos), Rigoletto (Borsa), and The Turn of the Screw (Peter Quint) all coached and performed at the Chautauqua Institution School of Music.
In 2018, Michael received his master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he performed in productions of The Cunning Little Vixen (Schoolmaster), Der Zigeunerbaron (Ottokar) and Nicolo Isouard’s rarely performed Cendrillon (Le Prince). Immediately following his graduation from MSM, Michael joined Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist. He holds two Encouragement Awards from The Gerda Lissner Foundation Lieder/Song Competition and had the honor of earning Second Prize at the McCammon Voice Competition.
