He was born in Connecticut, USA. He studied vocals at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Richard Miller, and he graduated in 1978. The following two years, he continued his studies at the American Opera Center of the Juilliard School in New York. He debuted in the role of Rodolfo [La bohème] in Providence (Rhode Island), and then, in 1982, at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, USA. Since then, he has appeared in major opera houses all over the world, such as: the Metropolitan Opera of New York (Norma, Aida, Tosca), the Paris Opera (Simon Boccanegra, Eugene Onegin, Norma, Macbeth), the Vienna State Opera (Mefistofele, La bohème, Tosca, La traviata, A Masked Ball/Un ballo in maschera), Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Zürich Opera House (Il trovatore), the Hamburg State Opera (Otello, Tosca), the São Carlos Theater in Lisbon, the Bavarian State Opera (La forza del destino, Un ballo in maschera), The Monnaie Royal Theater in Brussels, the Berlin German Opera (Pagliacci, Don Carlo, Turandot), the Royal Opera House in London, the Opera of Rome, the Grand Theater of Liceu in Barcelona (Norma, Aida), and the San Francisco Lyric Opera (Madama Butterfly, Salome). His repertoire includes, among others, all the leading tenor roles in Verdi's operas, as well as roles in Wagner's operas. He collaborated with the GNO in the production of the opera Turandot, staged at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in 2008, where he interpreted Calaf. // Last update of the biography: December 2015