These concerts are the North Carolina Symphony debut for Travon D. Walker.

A Ryan Opera Center tenor with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Travon D. Walker recently received his master’s degree from Rice University, where he sang Sam Kaplan in Weill's Street Scene. In Lyric’s 2024/25 Season, he has appeared in Verdi's Rigoletto, Beethoven's Fidelio, and in the leading role of Jeanine Tesori's Blue; he will return for Puccini's 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. He has been a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera and was invited to participate in Renée Fleming’s 2023 SongStudio and Joyce DiDonato’s 2024 Masterclass Series, both at Carnegie Hall, as well as the 2023 Britten Pears Young Artist Program. Other engagements include the Erie Philharmonic and Houston Grand Opera (in the world premiere of Jeremy Howard Beck’s Another City.

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.