Performance Database

In recent years, Hawaiian baritone Jordan Shanahan has made a name for himself with dramatic roles. He is engaged internationally both in the Italian repertoire, e.g. as Rigoletto, Scarpia, Jago, Rodrigo or Don Carlo di Vargas, as well as in the German repertoire, e.g. as the Flying Dutchman, Telramund, Alberich, Klingsor or Jochanaan and Barak. In addition, he also sings in concert, e.g. Mendelssohn's ELIAH, Verdi's MESSA DA REQUIEM or Stravinsky's OEDIPUS REX. In the 2021/2022 season Jordan was among others Don Carlo di Vargas / LA FORZA DEL DESTINO at Opera Graz, Alberich / RHEINGOLD, SIEGFRIED and GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG as well as Telramund / LOHENGRIN at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Rodrigo / DON CARLOS at Aalto Theater in Essen. This was followed by his house debut as Donner /RHEINGOLD at the Zurich Opera House. At the end of the season he stepped in overnight in the difficult part of Grandier, Pater von St. Peter in Penderecki's DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN in order to save the festival premiere at the Bavarian State Opera; Vladimir Jurowski stood at the podium and it was a sensational success.
Future assignments in 2022/2023 include Jochanaan / SALOME at Covent Garden in London, Verdi`s REQUIEM at the KKL in Lucerne. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin he sings his role debuts as Kurwenal in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE and der Herrscher in Korngold's DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE, Pizarro in FIDELIO and Jochanaan in SALOME. CARMEN-Escamillo follows at Staatstheater Wiesbaden as well as LOHENGRIN-Telramund at the Maggio Musicale in Florence under the baton of Zubin Mehta.
Engagements at the Bayreuth Festival, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Cologne Opera and the Semperoper Dresden are planned for the coming years.
In the summer of 2019 and 2020, the baritone also celebrated his debut at the Bregenz Festival in the title role as RIGOLETTO and also as Monterone in Philipp Stölzl's award-winning new production. In addition, he was most recently as Escamillo / CARMEN, Pizarro /FIDELIO, SENZA SANGUE under Peter Eötvös with the Brussels Philharmonic, Posa in a new production of Verdi's DON CARLO in Essen, for the title role in THE FLYING DUTCHMAN at the Rheinoper in Düsseldorf, Don Carlo di Vargas /LA FORZA DEL DESTINO in Frankfurt.
Jordan Shanahan made his professional operatic debut in 2002 as Silvio / PAGLIACCI at the Natchez Opera Festival in the USA. Since then he has sung well over 70 leading roles at major international houses and festivals; including appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera Chicago, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. His repertoire is still broad and includes roles such as Rossini's and Mozart's FIGARO, bel canto repertoire such as Donizetti's Belcore / L'ELISIR D'AMORE or Enrico / LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, but also the title role in Tchaikovsky's EUGEN ONEGIN and Yeletsky / PIQUE DAME. In addition to the standard repertoire, Jordan Shanahan has already made a name for himself in contemporary repertoire and with roles such as Joseph de Rocher / DEAD MAN WALKING, Robert Oppenheimer / DR. ATOMIC, The Protector / WRITTEN ON SKIN and Il Uomo / SENZA SANGUE, he has many of the brought their trust to the most important composers of our time.
Jordan Shanahan has also found success on the concert stage; from Handel's MESSIAH to Verdi's REQUIEM at Carnegie Hall, the Palace of Arts in Budapest, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and other major orchestras across Europe and the United States of America. As a teenager, Jordan found success in locally produced musicals in Honolulu, and at age 17 became principal trombonist with the Hawaii Youth Symphony. He studied trombone and composition at the University of Hawaii at Manoa before concentrating fully on singing. In 1998 he moved to Philadelphia and received a full scholarship to study at Temple University. He was later invited to join the Opera Studio in Amsterdam and then the Ryan Center at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Jordan Shanahan now lives in Switzerland and performs regularly in Europe, North America, Asia and of course in his home country of Hawaii.