He was born in the USA. He began to study music when he excelled while singing with the chorus at the Kenwood Academy High School, Chicago. Having won the Second Pavarotti competition, he appeared as Renato opposite Luciano Pavarotti in the opera A masked Ball [Un ballo in maschera]. In 2004 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York as Amonasro [Aida]. In the same theater he appeared as Don Carlo [The power of fate/La forza del destino], Tonio [Pagliacci] and Rigoletto. He has sang the title roles in the operas Nabucco (Teatro Comunale, Bologna, Bregenz Festival, Opera Festival in Savonlinna, Baltimore Opera), Rigoletto (Bologna, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, De Nederlandse Opera, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under G. Nosenta), Macbeth (Bologna, Trieste), Aida (MET, De Nederlandse Opera), Pagliacci (MET, Carnegie Hall). His repertoire includes roles in the operas Il trovatore, La Traviata, Stiffelio, Cavalleria rusticana, Tosca, The flying Dutchman [Der fliegende Hollander], Samson et Dalila, La Gioconda, La Bohème, Falstaff, Tannhäuser, Andrea Chénier, The girl of the West [La fanciulla del West], Il tabarro, Otello, Ernani, Don Carlos, Lucia di Lamermoor, Madama Butterfly, as well as solo parts in works such as A German Requiem [Ein deutsches Requiem] by Brahms, Mendelssohn’s oratorio Saint Paul, Carmina Burana, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem. In the 2006/07 season he sang the title role in GNO’s production of Nabucco.