Chauncey Packer is an exciting American tenor hailing from southern Alabama. Last season, Mr. Packer returned to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Bardolfo in Falstaff and Luis Rodrigo Griffith in Champion. He also made his role debut as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at New Orleans Opera, brought his celebrated Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess to Germany’s NDR Elbphilharmonic Orchestra, sang and danced as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls with Charlottesville Opera, and reprised his Cavaradossi in Tosca for the Soo Theatre. This season, he returns to The Metropolitan Opera as Howard Boucher in the highly anticipated Dead Man Walking and reprises his spinner in Fire Shut Up in Bones. In addition, he brings his Alfredo in La Traviatato Knoxville Opera and joins the South Florida Symphony Orchestra and Louisiana Philharmonic for Handel’s Messiah.
Mr. Packer recently made his role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca and as Jo the Loiterer in Mother of Us All at Chautauqua Opera, returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Robbins & Crab Man and Spinner in Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in my Bones, a role he reprised in 2022 with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Scalia in Scalia/Ginsberg at ChautauquaOpera, as well as postponed or canceled performances as Robbins & Crab Man in Porgy and Bess with Greensboro Opera and Howard Boucher in Dead Man Walking with The Metropolitan Opera. He made his metropolitan Opera début in the roles of Sportin’ Life, Robbins, and Crabman in Porgy and Bess, was a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Colour of Music Festival, appeared with the Saint-George International Music Festival and the Harrisburg Symphony, was Sportin’ Life with New York Harlem’s Porgy and Bess at Teatro Regio in Torino, Italy, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Soo Theatre Project in Michigan.
On the concert platform, he has joined Edmonton Opera, Baton Rouge Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Gulf Coast Opera, Shreveport Opera, Grand Rapids Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria, Louisiana Philharmonic, Signature Symphony, and Torun Symphony Orchestra. He was also featured in a concert at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with the Orchestre Symphonique de la Garde Républicaine benefiting the organization Women of Africa.
This versatile tenor honed his craft in theater and musical theater productions including The Wizard of Oz, School House Rock Live, and Big River. He performed in Paris’ Louvre Museum in controversial and provocative European choreographer/director Robyn Orlin's Babysitting Petit Louis. In 2013-2014, he was cast in the First National Broadway Tour of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess as the Honey Man and Sportin’ Life cover.
Mr. Packer is featured on several commercial recording releases including Nashville Symphony’s Porgy and Bess on Decca Records and Paragon Ragtime Symphony’s Treemonisha and Black Manhattan Volume 3, both on New World Records. He is featured to critical acclaim in San Francisco Opera’s DVD release of Francesca Zambello’s Porgy and Bess.
He was an apprentice with Des Moines Metro Opera and Utah Festival Opera, received his bachelor’s degree from University of Mobile, pursued a Master of Music from University of New Orleans, and postgraduate studies at Louisiana State University in music and theater.