FRED C. VANNESS, JR. is a Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist. This season, Mr. VanNess will sang the role of Messenger in Aida BLO and will appear in Die Tote Stadt and Carousel. Past performances include Paris, Romeo and Juliet, Boston Lyric Opera; Amadou and Renty, Omar, Boston Lyric Opera; Russell Davenport, Freedom Ride, MassOpera; Voltaire/Pangloss, Candide, Opera del West; Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni, Toronto Summer Opera; Don José, Carmen, NEMPAC Opera Project; and Rodolfo, La bohème, Longwood Opera.
Mr. VanNess is a member of Castle of our Skins, an organization dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music. He was the tenor soloist in Remember the Sea, Castle of our Skins; and the tenor quartet soloist in Tide Flowers, University of Rhode Island Artist Series. Other notable performances include Elijah, Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra, Ballad of the Brown King, Portsmouth Pro Musica, Schöpfungsmesse, Concord Chorale; Judas Maccabeus, Handel by Candlelight; Messiah, Tremont Baptist Church, and solo recitals at various venues access the US.
Mr. VanNess has developed and performed his one-man shows: When I Think of Home…, McNeese State University, and Beethoven to Broadway at various throughout New England and Louisiana. Mr. VanNess received his Graduate Performance Diploma in Opera from Longy School of Music and his Master of Music from Louisiana State University.