Praised for his “luxuriant baritone”, Luke Harnish is quickly establishing himself as a nuanced performer of opera, oratorio, and recital repertoire. Recent roles include Dr. Chillingworth (The Scarlet Letter), Nardo (La finta giardiniera), and Bob (The Old Maid and the Thief), all with Wichita State Opera Theatre. Last summer, he made his Opera Kansas debut as Walter Beech and Roy McPhetridge in the World Premiere of Staggerwing. Harnish was an apprentice artist with Opera NEO during the 2019 and 2020 summer seasons, where he most recently performed the role of Papageno in the company’s cinematic adaptation of Die Zauberflöte. The previous year he sang the title role in Eugene Onegin. 

Mr. Harnish worked closely with Nashville Opera from 2018 to 2020, performing several roles with the company, including Professor Trixie and Gus (The Cradle Will Rock), The Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly), and The Page (Amahl and the Night Visitors). In concert, he has sung the role of Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Vanderbilt University, the title role in Elijah with Wichita State University, and the Baritone Soloist for Serenade to Music with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. On the recital stage, he presented full performances of Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Schubert’s Schwanengesang. During the 2022-23 season, Mr. Harnish will join Lyric Opera of Kansas City as a Resident Artist. There, he will portray Zuniga (Carmen), Dottore Grenvil (La traviata), and King Balthazar (Amahl and the Night Visitors). Harnish is a district winner of the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.