Edward Parks, Baritone

Biography

A recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, Mr. Parks made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2009-2010 season as Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and has since appeared as Schaunard in La Bohème and as Larkens in La Fancuilla del West, which was broadcast in HD around the world. He also appeared as Schaunard on the Met’s 2011 tour of Japan. Other recent engagements have included Schubert’s Winterreise at both the Schubert Club in St. Paul and in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, his Carnegie Hall debut in an evening of songs by Charles Ives, Count Almaviva with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Count Almaviva and Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore at Oberlin Conservatory, and Marcello in La Bohéme, Jupiter in Orphée aux Enfers, and Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus at Yale. He is also a member of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which has presented him in recital in New York, and has participated in the Ravinia Festival’s prestigious Steans Institute for Young Artists.

A native of Indiana, PA, Mr. Parks received his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory, and his master’s degree from Yale University. A National Winner of the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Mr. Parks was recently named a first place winner at the 2010 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition and has received awards from the George London Foundation, the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition, the Connecticut Opera, the Palm Beach Opera Competition and the Music Academy of the West.