Bio
Having appeared at many of North America’s most significant houses, baritone Weston Hurt makes his anticipated UK debut this upcoming season as the titular Rigoletto with English National Opera. The 2024-25 Season will also bring his house and role debut as Tonio in Pagliacci with Pensacola Opera.
This past season, he joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera for the first time in Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas (Alvaro, cover), returned to Houston Grand Opera in their Miller Outdoor Theatre performances of Madama Butterfly (Sharpless), and bowed with Madison Opera for their annual Opera in the Park concert.
During the 2022-23 Season, Weston made several returns to signature roles, including La traviata (Germont) with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Tosca (Scarpia) with Arizona Opera, and in Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) with New Orleans Opera. On the concert stage, he joined Opera Roanoke for Britten’s War Requiem and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra for Verdi’s Requiem.
Notable opera engagements have included his role debut as the title character in Nabucco at Seattle Opera, his house and role debut with Houston Grand Opera as Scarpia in Tosca, his debut with New Orleans Opera in La traviata (Germont), his role debut as Iago in Otello with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and a return to Seattle Opera in another role debut as Talbot in Maria Stuarda. He has also appeared in Un ballo in maschera (Renato) with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the title role of Rigoletto with New Orleans Opera, Opera Maine, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, in Tosca (Scarpia) with Tulsa Opera and Nashville Opera, in La traviata (Germont) at the Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera San Antonio, Madison Opera, and Atlanta Opera, in Falstaff (Ford) at the Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, and Virginia Opera; in Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) at the Seattle Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, New York City Opera, Atlanta Opera, Berkshire Opera Festival and Opera Grand Rapids.
A graduate of the prestigious Juilliard Opera Center, Weston has received many notable vocal awards, including First Place and the People’s Choice Award from the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, the Vienna Prize from the George London Foundation, and First Place in the Oratorio Society of New York Competition, as well as various awards from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Competition, Liederkranz Foundation, Metropolitan Opera National Council, Opera Index, and Palm Beach Opera Competition, and two career grants conferred by The Santa Fe Opera.