Baritone Jonathan Stinson has appeared with opera companies throughout the US and Europe. Previous seasons have included Schaunard in La bohème at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the 2nd Cardinal/2nd Oracle in Philip Glass' Galileo Galilei and Barone Douphol in La traviata with Cincinnati Opera, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut for The Cleveland Opera, Slim in Of Mice and Men and Peter in Hansel und Gretel at Kentucky Opera, Il conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Arbor Opera Theatre, Joseph de Rocher in Dead Man Walking for Boston Opera Collaborative, and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Omaha. Abroad, he has sung Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and the title role of Gianni Schicchi in Varna, Bulgaria, the title role of Rigoletto in Manchester, UK, and the title role of Don Giovanni in Cortona, Italy. 

 

This season, Dr. Stinson made his House debut at Winter Opera St. Louis as Lescaut in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, performed with the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra as the Reciter in William Walton’s Façade: An Entertainment, and appeared as a soloist in Bach’s Johannes-Passion with TACTUS chamber ensemble in Oklahoma City. This summer, he will return to Delaware Valley Opera to sing Olin Blitch in Susannah. His 2022-2023 season included appearances as Marcello in La bohème at Delaware Valley Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni for Ozarks Lyric Opera, and bass soloist in Handel's Messiah for TACTUS Ensemble. Additionally, he performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra in “Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen” by Icelandic composer Kjartan Sveinsson and gave a recital as a part of the Belvedere Series in Richmond, VA, which included the world premiere of his own monodrama, Uncivil Relief. 

 

During the 2021-2022 season, he sang The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and Monterone in Rigoletto for Delaware Valley Opera, and performed the bass solos in Bach’s B Minor Mass with Music Worcester (MA). In 2020, he was contracted to sing Dandini in La cenerentola at Salt Marsh Opera, the Four Villains in Les contes d'Hoffmann and Falke in Die Fledermaus at the Stara Zagora Opera House in Bulgaria, as well as the solos in Bach's B Minor Mass with Connecticut Choral Artists, but these engagements were all canceled due to emergence of Covid-19. Recent solo concert work includes Carmina Burana with both the University of Arkansas and the Sullivan County Community Chorus (NY), Messiah with Connecticut Choral Artists, and Vaughan-Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem for the Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts in Potsdam, NY.

 

A huge advocate for new music, Dr. Stinson has workshopped leading roles in operas by Tom Cipullo, Anthony Davis, Douglas Cuomo, Patrick Soluri, and Elizabeth Kelly.  As a composer, Jonathan has written two one-act operas for young audiences, two operatic vignettes, seven song cycles, a monodrama, and several choral works. In 2015, his church anthem "Beloved" won the Grand Prize of the International Anthem Competition held by First Baptist Church in Worcester, MA. His children’s operas have been toured by Atlanta Opera, Opera Memphis, Seagle Music Colony, Sanford Opera, Reach Out Kansas, and Chicago Opera Playhouse, and have been performed at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Arkansas, and Lougheed-Kofoed Festival of the Arts (NY).

 

Dr. Stinson is a past Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and received the “Bel Canto Award” at the Orpheus National Voice Competition. Jonathan holds voice performance degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, and University of Cincinnati–College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Dr. Stinson has previously served on the voice faculties of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, Edge Hill University (UK), and Northern Kentucky University. He is currently a voice professor and Director of Opera Theatre at the University of Arkansas.

 
Dr. Stinson is represented by MIA Artists Management.