John Osborn – Soloist

American tenor,  John Osborn, was born in Sioux City, Iowa.  He attended primary and secondary school, and was heavily involved in music and athletics while growing up in Iowa.  Throughout his years at Bishop Heelan Catholic High School, he was often a featured soloist at various honor and choir festivals.  He was also a folk-style wrestling champion of the Sioux Interstate Conference in 1990. 

His continuing education includes a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.  He studied voice with Anne Larson, an accomplished mezzo soprano while at Simpson, and was a winner of the 1994 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions when he was only 21 years old.  This immediately gave him international attention.  Mr. Osborn was an invited member of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program in the fall of 1994.  He continued his vocal studies with Edward Zambara, a Greek-American bass, who was teaching at The Juilliard School. 

As a member of the Met YADP, he studied several songs, arias and roles under distinguished Met coaches as Nico Castel, Susan Webb, Robert Cowart, Dennis Giocque, Donna Racik, and Stephen Eldridge.  He also appeared in masterclasses with several important artists as Hermann Prey, Régine Crespin, Carlo Bergonzi, Eduardo Müller, Barbara Bonney, Sherill Milnes, Ileana Cortrubas, and Regina Resnik, to name a few.  He was also First Prize Winner of the 1996 Operalia Voice Competition of Placido Domingo in Bordeaux, France. 

    In 2012, Mr. Osborn became the first non-Italian to win the Aureliano Pertile Tenor Award in Asti, Italy. He is also recipient of a 2011 Goffredo Petrassi Award for his contributions to Italian culture in performances as Arnold Melchtal in GUILLAUME TELL by Gioacchino Rossini with Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra and Chorus of L’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. Furthermore, he’s a winner of the 2014 Bellini d’Oro in Catania, Sicily, the home of Vincenzo Bellini, for his performances in Bellini’s LA SONNAMBULA in Bari, and for his Verdi’s TRAVIATA performances at Arena di Verona. 2016 “Prix d’Amis” friends of the Dutch National Opera and subsequently the “for his performance as Cellini in Terry Gilliam’s award-winning production of BENVENUTO CELLINI.

Awards this year include the Premio “Franco Abbiati” critics award in the category of “Best Male” singer, 2016; the International Opera Awards “Oscar della Lirica” in the category of “Best Tenor”; and most recently the Premio Cittadina di Diano Marina for his career achievements.

         Mr. Osborn’s 2016/17 began with his return to The Metropolitan Opera as Arnold Mélchtal in GUILLAUME TELL; a critically acclaimed return to Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Italy in Rossini’s OTELLO: Ossia il moro di Venezia; a recital alongside his wife, Lynette Tapia, soprano and pianist Beatrice Benzi from La Scala di Milano also in Teatro San Carlo di Napoli; the same recital with pianist and Maestro Ramón Tebar at Opera Naples in Florida; the New Year’s Eve Gala at La Fenice (Capodanno) televised Live nationwide in Italy on January 2, 2017; three performances as Conte di Libenskof in Rossini’s IL VIAGGIO A REIMS as his debut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia; Pollione in NORMA as his debut in Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Sicily; his role debut in LE PROPHETE by Giacomo Meyerbeer as Jean de Leyde alongside his wife, Lynette Tapia as Berthe also in his debut at the Aalto Musik Theater in Essen, Germany; Alfredo Germont in Constanta, Romania; a televised concert with Lynette Tapia, Maestro Franco Giacosa, and the Kaunas City Symphony in Kaunas, Lithuania; another run of LE PROPHETE for his return to the Théâtre du Capitôle in Toulouse, France; a concert with his wife and daughter (violin) and Maestro Giacosa in honor of his receipt of the Premio Cittadina Diano Marina in Italy.