Eric Ferring

Tenor Eric Ferring, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, graduated magna cum laude from Drake University in 2014 with his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and The Boston Conservatory in 2016 with his Master of Music in Opera Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom. He is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center.

Mr. Ferring begins his 2020-2021 season with his debut as Walther in Tannhäuser with Opéra de Rouen. He is also slated to appear again with the Jacksonville Symphony as the tenor soloist for Handel’s Messiah, join Florentine Opera in recital, and make his debut with North Carolina Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (rescheduled from last season). Other originally scheduled engagements include his return to Pittsburgh Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (postponed). Additionally, he joins the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.

Mr. Ferring’s original engagements for the COVID-19 affected 2019-2020 season include his debut with Santa Fe Opera, singing Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (cancelled), which he was also scheduled to perform with North Carolina Opera (postponed) and New Orleans Opera (cancelled). He also returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago for his second season as a member of the Ryan Opera Center, where his assignments include performances of the Older brother in Dead Man Walking, Tchaplitsky in Queen of Spades, the Sergeant in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and he appeared as a tenor soloist in the Lyric’s Three Queens Concert featuring Sondra Radvanovsky. He also covered Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and the Major Domo in Queen of Spades. In concert, he joined the Jacksonville Symphony for Handel’s Messiah.

In the 2018-2019 season, Eric Ferring joined the Ensemble of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Performances during the season include his principal role appearance as Lurcanio in Ariodante, for which the Chicago Tribune declared him “the most noteworthy solo breakthrough of the production”, as well as the Young Servant in Elektra and Giuseppe in La traviata. Ferring also covered roles in Idomeneo (High Priest), Il trovatore (Ruiz), Cendrillon (Dean of the Faculty), and La traviata (Gastone).  With the Evansville Philharmonic he performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and during the summer of 2019, he participated in both the prestigious Académie Festival-Aix and Verbier Festival.

During the 2017-2018 season, as a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist, Mr. Ferring performed as Spoletta in Tosca, Basilio/Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, Ricky in The Long Walk, The Protagonist in the world premiere of Ashes & Snow in collaboration with American Opera Projects, Flask in Moby-Dick, and Nemorino in the student matinee of in L’elisir d’amore. During the tenor’s first year as a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist, he performed as Gastone in La traviata, as Fourth Jew in Salome, and Señor Alcalde in the world premiere of The Summer King. Mr. Ferring was an Apprentice Singer at Santa Fe Opera where he covered Oronte in Alcina and was awarded the 2017 Richard Tucker Memorial Scholarship.

Heralded by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for being “powerful and direct…while conveying a range of conflicting emotions with distinction and subtlety” and by having a “bold precision to his substantial sound,” Mr. Ferring has been seen at many prestigious summer programs and received a number of awards. In the 2015-2016 summers, Mr. Ferring appeared at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist performing Parpignol in La bohème, Zahir in Shalimar the Clown (world premiere), as well as covering Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos and Prunier in La rondine. While at OTSL, Mr. Ferring received a career award from the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Artists given in recognition of his great vocal potential. Mr. Ferring has also been a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera performing Lacouf in Les mamelles de Tirésias and covering Remendado in Carmen. Mr. Ferring was a Young Artist at both the Seagle Music Colony and Cedar Rapids Opera and performed numerous roles with both companies.

A multi-dimensional artist, Mr. Ferring is also an accomplished conductor, having conducted To Hell and Back, Old Maid and the Thief, A Chorus Line, Sweeney Todd, Anything Goes, and A Little Night Music, as well as assistant conducting productions of Iphigénie en Tauride and Le nozze di Figaro.

Mr. Ferring received Third Prize at the 2017 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition and has received three Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Encouragement Awards, as well as most recently a Regional Encouragement Award from the Great Lakes Region. Mr. Ferring took 2nd Place in the 2014 Hal Leonard Vocal Competition.