Jacob Lassetter, baritone
Baritone Jacob Lassetter is delighted to return to Peninsula Music Festival for their 60th Anniversary Season as baritone soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9. With his powerful voice and commanding stage presence, he is quickly establishing himself on the operatic and concert stage. Critics have praised his dignified characterizations, his soaring high range, and his deep, rich tone quality.
Earlier in 2012, Mr. Lassetter returned to his signature role of Germont in La Traviata with Opera Theatre of the Rockies. Prior to this season he most recently sang Germont in the summer of 2010 at Music by the Lake, and the role served as his Italian debut at the Teatro Accademico in Castelfranco Veneto. In 2011, he was baritone soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble, as well as the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, where he also performed Fauré’s Requiem with Manhattan Concert Productions. Additional performances in 2011 included Verdi’s Requiem with the Peninsula Music Festival and Mozart’s Requiem with Coe College.
Mr. Lassetter’s operatic repertoire includes the title of roles in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, and Griswold in Dominick Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe. His concert credits include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion. In 2008, he made his debut at New York City’s Carnegie Hall performing with his wife, soprano Karen Kanakis.
Mr. Lassetter was recently named a Semi-finalist in the Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition. He was a Regional Finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition, and received the Encouragement Award from the Southern Ohio District of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He is an alumnus of the Young Artist Programs of Chautauqua Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Utah Festival Opera.
