Emmy-winning, Billboard-charting American tenor Eric Ferring is known internationally

as “a prodigiously gifted lyric tenor” (Opera News) for his “fine, gleaming tenor” (New

York Classical Review), as well as for having “a beautifully round and warm timbre,

expressive, and with great finesse” (Olyrix). His expertise ranges from early bel canto

repertoire and the music of Handel and Mozart to the origination of contemporary

operatic roles.

Ferring’s 2025-2026 season includes return performances with Art Song Chicago, Tampa

Oratorio Singers (Elijah), as well as debuts with the Knoxville Symphony (Messiah),

Charlotte Symphony (Messiah), New Jersey Symphony (Mozart’s Requiem), Opera

Carolina (Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi), and the Umeri Choir (Mozart’s Missa brevis in F

major). Ferring will also record his third solo album in 2026 and will release it with

Lexicon Classics.

Ferring’s 2024-2025 season includes performances with conductor Emmanuelle Haïm

and her ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée, for a program of Rameau and Handel in Paris,

Lille and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic (debut). He also sang Beethoven’s 9th

Symphony with the Portland Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Evansville

Philharmonic, and Mozart’s Requiem with the North Carolina Symphony. In New York

City, he joined the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center (formerly Mostly Mozart), to

perform Gomatz in Act 1 of Mozart's Zaide, conducted by Dame Jane Glover. With

Haymarket Opera, he performed the role of Artabano in Artaserse, which is also being

released on Cedille Records in 2026, and sang Oronte in Alcina with the company at The

Ravinia Festival.

The 2023-24 season featured Eric’s house debut with Opéra de Lille as Don Ottavio in a

new production of Don Giovanni, a role he also sang in concert for his return to Opéra de

Rouen. He made his debuts with the Seattle Symphony for Handel's Messiah, the Insula

Orchestra in Paris, France for Mozart’s Requiem, and with The English Concert, Mr.

Ferring made his role and orchestra debut as Grimoaldo in Rodelinda on a

multi-continent tour conducted by Harry Bicket.

Previous notable engagements include his principal role debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago

as Lurcanio in Ariodante, a role he also performed for his Opéra de Paris debut in a new

Robert Carsen production. With the Metropolitan Opera, he has bowed as Arturo in a

new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, Tamino in The Magic Flute, and Pong in

Turandot. He has sung Fenton in Falstaf with Santa Fe Opera, Tamino in Die

Zauberflöte with Opéra national du Rhin and the Verbier Festival, and Lysander in A

Midsummer Night’s Dream with Opéra de Rouen.

With Pittsburgh Opera, he appeared as The Protagonist in the world premiere of the

one-man opera Ashes & Snow in collaboration with American Opera Projects, bowed as

Nemorino in a student matinee performance of in L’elisir d’amore, and sang Ricky in The

Long Walk and Señor Alcalde in the world premiere of The Summer King. In concert, he

has performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Spoleto Festival USA and Handel’s

Messiah with the Jacksonville Symphony.

In 2022, he released his solo debut album No Choice but Love with Lexicon Classics,

which showcased works by LGBTQIA+ composers. This was followed by 2023’s We Have

Tomorrow, featuring pianist Madeline Slettedahl and French string quartet, Quatuor

Agate, and recorded under the Delos label.

Eric Ferring was an Apprentice Singer at Santa Fe Opera, where he was awarded the 2017

Richard Tucker Memorial Scholarship. He also participated in the Académie de Festival

d’Aix-en-Provence, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ Gerdine Young Artist Program,

receiving a career award from the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Artists, and was a

Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera.

Ferring’s numerous awards include top prizes at many competitions including the

George London Foundation for Singers, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Gerda Lissner

Foundation International Voice Competition, American Opera Society of Chicago, the

National Society of Arts and Letters, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, as

well as grants and awards from the Richard Tucker Foundation, Sullivan Foundation,

Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

He is a native of Dubuque, Iowa and graduated from Drake University with his Bachelor

of Music in Vocal Performance and The Boston Conservatory with his Master of Music

in Opera Performance. Ferring is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera

Center and the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. Ferring is also an Assistant

Regional Director at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the Executive

Director of Art Song Chicago, and Project Curator for Lexicon Classics.