From the time of his debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, American baritone Mark Rucker has been in demand in opera houses and on concert stages throughout Europe and the Americas.  He opened the 2006-2007 season as Rigoletto in New York for the Met in the Parks, followed by Tonio in I pagliacci at  the Metropolitan Opera, Nabucco in Baltimore, Rigoletto in Jessi, and Nabucco in Athens.  Mr. Rucker will be heard in the 2007-2008 season in Bologna for Samson et Dalila, Liege as Nabucco, San Diego as Amonasro, and New Orleans and Portland as Rigoletto.

Mr. Rucker was heard in the 2005-2006 season as Nabucco at the Teatro Communale in Bologna and on tour with the company to the Savolinna Festival.  He was Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino and Amonasro at the Metropolitan Opera, Count Di Luna in Il trovatore in Hartford, and Amonasro for his debut at the Arena di Verona.

The 2004-2005 season marked Mr. Rucker’s Metropolitan Opera debut as Amonasro in Aida. He opened the season in the title role of Macbeth for Opera Carolina, made his debut as Le Comte de Toulouse in Verdi’s Jerusalem with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, returned to Bolonga’s Teatro Comunale as as Verdi’s Macbeth, made his debut in the Teatro Verdi in Trieste as Macbeth, and his debut with the Israel Philharmonic as Rigoletto under the baton of Daniel Oren.

Mr. Rucker opened the 2003-2004 season as Amonasro in Aida for Atlanta Opera, followed by  Rigoletto for Boston Lyric Opera, Orlando Opera and Connecticut Opera and Tonio and Alfio in the New Orleans Opera’s Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. He closed the season with his Italian debut at the Teatro Communale in Bologna as Rigoletto under the baton of Daniele Gatti. Mr. Rucker’s 2002-2003 season began with Amonasro in Aïda with Vancouver Opera, and a double bill of Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci for Florida Grand Opera. He took on the title role in Nabucco in St. Gallen, and performed Rigoletto for Opera Grand Rapids. Mr. Rucker made his Carnegie Hall debut in a concert version of Verdi’s La Forza del destino with Maria Guleghina and Salvatore Licitra with the Collegiate Chorale.  The 2001-2002 season began with performances of Count Di Luna in Il trovatore with Opera Carolina. He returned to San Diego as Rigoletto, and sang a concert performance of Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci with the San Antonio Symphony and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Rucker sang the title role in a new production of Rigoletto for his Netherlands Opera debut.  He made his Vienna State Opera debut as Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and sang the title role in Nabucco for two consecutive summers at the Bregenz Festival. Other European credits have

included Amonasro in Aïda under the baton of  Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw Orkest for the Netherlands Opera, performances with the Graz Opera in Un ballo in maschera, Stiffelio and La traviata, Amonasro in Aïda for the Arena di Verona on tour, as well as in Berlin and in Dublin, the latter of which was recorded by Naxos.

The American baritone has been heard as Rigoletto at the Florida Grand Opera with Richard Bonynge, Vancouver Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Ontario, New Orleans Opera, Opera Pacific and Portland Opera. He was also heard as Iago in Otello with Connecticut Opera, Di Luna in Il trovatore at L'Opéra de Montréal, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci at the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. He was also heard as Renato in Un ballo in maschera for San Diego Opera with Maestro Edoardo Müller and as Amonasro with the New Orleans Opera and Michigan Opera Theater, sang a double-bill of Michele in Il tabarro and Tonio in I Pagliacci with Connecticut Opera under the baton of Willy Anthony Waters, a fully-staged performance of Rigoletto with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, a concert performance of Linda di Chamounix as Antonio with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra under Bruno Campanella at the Concertgebouw.

Mr. Rucker made his Canadian debut with Opera Hamilton as Germont in La traviata, his Mexican debut at the De Los Sportes in Mexico City as Amonasro in an international tour of Aïda. His European debut was Alfio and Tonio for Opera de Nice and his Asian debut in the same roles with Taipei City Symphony in Taiwan and Count Di Luna in Il trovatore with Dublin Opera. He made his New York City Opera debut in the role of Rigoletto in 1988 and returned to the company in summer 1989.  He has also portrayed Rigoletto with the Florentine Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre and with the opera companies of Baltimore, Orlando, Columbus, Austin, and Knoxville, among others.

Other American engagements have included the title role of Macbeth for Florida Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera and Utah Opera, Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor with Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Pacific, Portland Opera, Cleveland Opera and New York City Opera. He has been heard as Marcello in La bohème with Opera Pacific and Michigan Opera Theatre, Amonasro in Aïda with Portland Opera and Atlanta Opera, Alfio and Tonio in Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci for Opera Pacific. He was the High Priest in Samson et Dalila with Portland Opera, Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Grand Rapids, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Connecticut Opera, Giacomo in Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco for Arizona Opera and Wolfram in Tannhäuser with Austin Lyric Opera.

On the concert stage Mr. Rucker has appeared as guest soloist in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with the Baltimore Symphony under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, has appeared also as guest soloist with the Detroit Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Los Angeles Civic Orchestra, Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. His concert repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Noah in Britten's Noye's Fludde, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem, and Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ.

For more photographs and additional biographical information, please visit www.markrucker.com

Back To Top