Travon D. Walker (Tenor) The second-year tenor with Lyric Opera’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center recently received his master’s degree from Rice University, where he sang Sam Kaplan/Street Scene. In Lyric’s 2024/25 Season, he appears in the leading role of Son/Blue as well as Borsa/Rigoletto, 1st Prisoner/Fidelio, and Parpignol/La Bohème. A native of Hinesville, Georgia, Walker completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music. While there, he made his operatic debut in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Walker has been a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera and was invited to participate in Renée Fleming’s 2023 SongStudio and Joyce DiDonato’s 2023 Masterclass Series, both at Carnegie Hall, and the 2023 Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Other engagements include the Erie Philharmonic and Houston Grand Opera (Jeremy Howard Beck’s Another City, world premiere). Walker received an Encouragement Award from the Kansas City District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the 2024 Best Vocal Artist Award from the American Opera Society, and the 2024 Luminarts Cultural Foundation Men’s Voice Fellowship.