eric ferring, tenor

Eric Ferring, tenor  Photo By: Kristin Hoebermann

Eric Ferring is a second-year Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist in 2017-18. He is scheduled to perform as Spoletta in Tosca, Basilio/Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro, Ricky in The Long Walk, The Protagonist in Ashes & Snow, Flask in Moby-Dick, and and Nemorino in the student matinee of The Elixir of Love.

During Mr. Ferring's first-year as a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist, he performed as Gastone/La traviata, as Fourth Jew in Salome, and Señor Alcalde in the world premiere of The Summer King. He has been seen at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist performing Parpignol/La bohème, Zahir/Shalimar the Clown (world premiere), as well as covering Scaramuccio/Ariadne auf Naxos and Prunier/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/Les mamelles de Tirésias and covering Remendado/Carmen. This past summer, Mr. Ferring was an Apprentice Singer at Santa Fe Opera where he covered Oronte/Alcina and was awarded the 2017 Richard Tucker Memorial Scholarship.

Mr. Ferring earned his Master of Music in Opera Performance at The Boston Conservatory, where he performed as Alfredo/La traviata, Bill/Flight, Tom Rakewell/The Rake’s Progress and Pylade/Iphigénie en Tauride under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom.

He received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Drake University, where he performed as Nanki-Poo/The Mikado, Stage Manager/Our Town, and Nemorino/The Elixir of Love. 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-talented artist, Mr. Ferring also is 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.

Along with winning an Encouragement Award at the Great Lakes Region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Mr. Ferring received Third Prize at the 2017 Gerda Lissner International Voice Competition, 2nd Place in the 2014 Hal Leonard Vocal Competition: Art Song Division, was a two-time finalist for the International Crescendo Music Awards, and a winner at the 2013 Central Iowa Symphony and Fort Dodge Symphony Competitions.

Mr. Ferring will be joining the Ensemble of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago beginning in May 2018 and is managed by Fletcher Artist Management.

Mr. Ferring's residency is generously sponsored by Jim and Judith Matheny.

Visit Mr. Ferring's personal website, or find him on Facebook.