David Okerlund
Baritone David Okerlund, Assistant Professor of Voice at Florida State Univeristy, has established himself as a major artist in such critically acclaimed performances as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with L’Opéra National du Rhin, the Pittsburgh Symphony and the San Diego Opera; Orestes in Elektra and Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Vancouver Opera; Yeletsky in Pique Dame with Opera Grand Rapids; Germont in La Traviata with Connecticut Opera Theater and Jokanaan in Salome with Hawaii Opera Theater. Other major performances of leading baritone roles include the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sharplessin Madama Butterfly, Dandini in La Cenerentola and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus.
During his multi-year tenure with the San Francisco Opera, Mr. Okerlund essayed the role of Stanley Kowalskiin the world premiere of Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, as well as portrayals of the title role in Don Giovanni, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Escamillo in Carmen, Marcelloin La Bohème and the title role in Eugene Onegin. He was also featured in the company’s world premiere recordings of Harvey Milk and Dead Man Walking.
Highly regarded for concert and oratorio appearances, Mr. Okerlund’s repertoire includes: Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem,Handel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem and Britten’s War Requiem. He has been a soloist with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, San José Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, San Francisco Chorale Society, Napa Valley Symphony and the Masterworks Chorale.
Recent engagements have included: Mozart Requiem with the Toledo Symphony, Faure’s Requiem in Pittsburgh, Henry in the world premiere workshop of Jake Heggie’s End of The Affair at Bucknell University and Personaje Mysterioso in the world premiere recording of Leonardo Balada’s La Muerte de Colon for the Naxos label. Mr. Okerlund has also given masterclasses at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, University of Nebraska, University of Memphis and the Queen Elizabeth School of Music in Brandon, Manatoba.
Future engagements include the title role in Elijah with the Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Hyogo Cultural Center in Kobe, Japan.
Before joining the College of Music faculty at Florida State University, Mr. Okerlund was Assistant Professor of Voice at Bowling Green State University and Artist Lecturer of Voice at Carnegie Mellon University.