ISU Hosts World-Renowned Singer, Allan Glassman

The Idaho/Montana District Laffont Competition welcomes world-renowned tenor Allan Glassman as a judge and master clinician November 3-4, 2023.

Every year, ISU invites one of three judges to work with ISU undergraduate voice majors and minors. Judges this year are David Gately (Assoc. Professor of Opera at Boston Conservatory at Berklee), Cory Lipiello (Dir. Of Artistic Programs for Lyric Opera of Chicago) and Allan Glassman. 

Tenor Allan Glassman has thrilled audiences throughout America and Europe for decades with his vibrant timbre and committed interpretations of roles. In an extraordinary opportunity for ISU voice students, Glassman will be collaborating directly with them and the community is also invited to attend.

A regular at The Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Glassman triumphed as Herod in a production of Salome and has since been heard in The Met’s productions of Billy Budd as Red Whiskers; Die Frau ohne Schatten as The Hunchback Brother; Salome as the First Jew; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District as The Shabby Peasant; and in productions of Boris Godunov, The Great Gatsby, Carmen, Elektra, Káťa Kabanová, The Ghost of Versailles, Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and Wozzeck.

Mr. Glassman’s impressive career includes many titular roles in some of opera’s most notable works, including Samson in Samson et Dalila at the former Opera Pacific, Sacco in Sacco and Vanzetti at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Hoffmann in Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Idomeneo at Los Angeles Opera, where he was double cast with the esteemed Plácido Domingo. Hailed as the Otello of his generation: “Glassman is a full-on Verdian tenor… Glassman is more than equal to the demands of the role, conveying Otello’s pain and suspicion vividly.” Other highlights from his leading roles résumé include Don José in Carmen, Cavardossi in Tosca, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with New York City Opera; and Canio in Pagliacci with Arizona Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Nashville Opera.

International performances include Manrico in Il trovatore with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Samson in Samson et Dalila at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv; the Prince in Rusalka in the Czech Republic; title role in Verdi’s Ernani, Don José in Carmen, and I vespri siciliani with L’Opéra de Nice; I vespri siciliani with Den Norske Opera; Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Belleayre Music Festival; Carmen with Opera Valencia in Spain; and the Prince in Rusalka with Oper Frankfurt. Sought after by orchestras, both domestic and international, Mr. Glassman maintains an active concert calendar. 

Mr. Glassman’s Masterclass is funded in part by ISU’s Cultural Events Committee and the Voillequé Endowment. The Masterclass is free and open to the public, Friday, November 3, 3-5:00 p.m. in the Rotunda of the Stephens Performing Arts Center. Singer enthusiasts might also consider attending the Laffont Competition on Saturday, November 4, beginning at 10:00 am. Tickets for the competition are available at the Stephens box office. Information may also be obtained from Dr. Diana Livingston Friedley lividian@isu.edu, or 208-282-2611.