Michael Spyres was born and raised in the Ozarks and grew up in an extremely musical family. Mr. Spyres is one of the most sought-after Tenors of his generation with 10 DVDs and 30 CDs to his name and has performed more roles than any active tenor with an astounding 83 roles in 78 separate operas. Michael has been celebrated in the world’s most prestigious international opera houses, festivals, and concert halls and is acclaimed in the widest range of repertoire. His unique career has taken him into every genre from Baroque to Classical to the 20th century, while firmly establishing himself as an expert within the Bel Canto repertoire and French Grand Opera.
The 2023/2024 season Michael began with a whirlwind tour of Fete de Berlioz La Cote Saint Andree, Salzburger Festspieler, Berliner Festspieler, Opera Royale de Versailles, and the BBC Proms as Enee in Berlioz's masterpiece Les Troyens with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras. Immediately afterwards, Michael made his return to the famed Concertgebouw of Amsterdam as Gualtiero in Bellini's Il Pirata. In October he saw his double debut in the renowned Wiener Philharmoniker as the tenor soloist in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde as well as in Verdi's Requiem in both Vienna and his debut with the season opening of Opéra de Monte-Carlo. To finish 2023, Michael shared a solo and duet concert debut with Kapos Concerts series in Bratislava, Slovakia alongside his esteemed colleague Lawrence Brownlee. The 2024 calendar year see's his return to Barcelona's Liceu as Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen followed by his return to the Orchestra Philharmonique de Strasbourg starring alongside Joyce DiDonato in a concert of Berlioz and Wagner. In March of 2024 Michael will make his role and house debut in the title role of Wagner's Lohengrin with the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Mulhouse follow directly by a solo concert in the Saint-Chapelle concert series of Paris. May will see his return to the Musikverein of Wien with a worldwide broadcast under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Muti to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the premiere Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. In June, Michael returns to the Opéra national de Paris in the role of Licinius in Spontini's seminal work, La Vestale. In addition to Vestale, Michael will perform in the fete de la musique Verdi gala as well as his debut in the baroque Festival de Froville. To close the 2023/2024 season Michael will make his role and house debut in the famed Bayreuther Festspiele as Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walkure.
In the 2022/2023 season Michael starred twice on the Metropolitan Opera stage as the title role of Mozart's Idomeneo
as well as Pollione in Bellini's Norma. Michael also saw his return to the Opéra National de Paris, as Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen. The final opera of the season saw his debut as Jupiter in Handel's Semele returning to the festival of the Bayerische Staatsoper Munchen. In addition to the opera stage, his very active concert schedule began with his debut at both the NYC Armory series and the Kennedy Center of Washington D. C. alongside his piano virtuoso partner, Mathieu Pordoy as they presented a romantic music recital of Beethoven, Berlioz, and Liszt. Michael also performed with M. Pordoy in the festival Les Volques of Nimes where they presented a recital of Schumann's Dichterliebe as well as Schumann's Op.74 duets along with his wife Tara Stafford-Spyres. Michael also sang a recital of duets with his wife entitled Noel en Italie with Maestro Jeremie Rohrer at the Grand Theatre de Provence. The beginning of 2023 with his colleague Lawrence Brownlee, Michael shared the stage in Les Grands Voix in their return to Théatre Champs Elysée. The spring of 2023 will saw his debut in his home state with the Saint Louis Symphony under the baton of Maestro Stephane Deneuve as Faust in Berlioz's Damnation de Faust, followed by his hometown debut with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra along with his wife, sister, and brother as they shared an historical evening of musicals and opera. To conclude the concert season, Michael's toured in Montpellier, London, Antwerp, and Berlin with his latest solo album Contra-Tenor recorded with Erato Warner Records and the famed Pomo d'Oro baroque ensemble.
Since 2015 Michael has had the honor to be the only International Opera Star who is not just a performer but also an impresario. Mr. Spyres has been the Artistic Director of his hometown opera company, the Ozarks Lyric Opera and has been involved in every aspect of the renaissance of his regional company. In addition to being the active Artistic Director he has translated libretti and actively teaches masterclasses while guiding young artists careers. The last years have seen him produce numerous events as well as 7 operas and numerous gala concerts. For the 2019/2020 season Michael wrote/produced the 40th anniversary gala as well as an original pastiche on the life of Handel. The 2021/2022 season saw his return to the OLOpera's main stage after 10 years to star in his original vaudeville pastiche coupled with his role debut as Canio in his original concept of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.
Michael has worked with some of the world's most renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Mark Elder, Valery Gergiev, Emmannuelle Haim, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Michele Mariotti, Alberto Zedda, and John Nelson. In his meteoric rise Michael has quickly established himself as one of the greatest singers of his generation and has already sung at many of the world's most prestigious Opera houses and festivals worldwide such as Teatro San Carlo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix en Provence Festival, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera Comique, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Nederlands National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berliner Festspiele, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Teatro Real de Madrid, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Salzburger Festspiele.
In addition to his operatic career, Mr. Spyres is equally accomplished within the concert world and has given concerts and recitals in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Prague, Pesaro, Bologna, Napoli, Sao Paulo, A Coruna, Tokyo, Cape Town, Shanghai, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Munich, Lyon, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Michael has worked with some of the world's most renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Mark Elder, Valery Gergiev, Emmannuelle Haim, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Michele Mariotti, Alberto Zedda, and John Nelson. In his meteoric rise Michael has quickly established himself as one of the greatest singers of his generation and has already sung at many of the world's most prestigious Opera houses and festivals worldwide such as Teatro San Carlo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix en Provence Festival, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera Comique, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Nederlands National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berliner Festspiele, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Teatro Real de Madrid, Wiener Staatsoper, and the Salzburger Festspiele.
In addition to his operatic career, Mr. Spyres is equally accomplished within the concert world and has given concerts and recitals in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Prague, Pesaro, Bologna, Napoli, Sao Paulo, A Coruna, Tokyo, Cape Town, Shanghai, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Munich, Lyon, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.