« Building A Character | Main | Le Nozze di Figaro Pictures »
Jacque Trussel
By admin | October 11, 2010
In 1998, Mr. Trussel became the chair of Opera Performance/Vocal Studies in the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, State University of New York.
Since then he has been named 2005’s Stage Director of the Year by Classical Singer Magazine and has lead the Purchase Opera to five National Opera Association awards for Best Production of the Year as stage director. These include, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, the New York premiere of Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest and finally for a tirio of operas which included Confession, a one-act prequel to Puccini’s Suor Angelica that was conceived, written, developed, and staged at Purchase College.
Mr. Trussel’s students have appeared in the regional and semi-finals of the Metropolitan Opera Guild competition. He has also had three winners of the prestigious Liederkrantz Competition as well as many other prizes for singing. His students have consistently been accepted to well known graduate programs, often with scholarships and internships. These include Juilliard, American Vocal Academy, Indiana University, Eastman, Temple, Maryland and others. His students have also been accepted to the young artist programs of Santa Fe Opera, Chautauqua, Merola and others.
Professional Bio
Winning accolades for his outstanding vocal gifts as well as his compelling interpretations, American tenor Jacque Trussel has performed with the foremost opera companies and orchestras throughout North America and Europe.
Among the roles for which he is particularly renowned is Peter Grimes, a role in which he made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut. He sang the same role at the famed Maggio Musicale festival in Florence at the request of the brilliant director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle in his final new production. He was also much sought after for his searing portrayal as Sergei in Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”. Mr. Trussel sang this role with the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grand Theatre de Nante, and English National Opera (televised by the BBC and honored as the best production of that year); at the Spoleto festivals of both the United States and Italy (televised on RAI); and for his debuts at La Scala and at the opening of the Bastille Opera, in Paris. As Hermann in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” Mr. Trussel performed at the opening event of the inaugural season of the Spoleto Festival USA, as well as at the Spoleto in Italy, the Houston Grand Opera, and the National Arts Center in Ottawa.
An acclaimed Don Jose in Bizet’s “Carmen,” he has performed that role with the Canadian Opera Company, Montreal Opera, and Cincinnati Opera, as well as in a telecast from New York City Opera for “Live from Lincoln Center” and in a CBC national broadcast of the Vancouver Opera. In Great Britain, he sang Don Jose in the celebrated Stephen Pimlott production at Earl’s Court in London with Maria Ewing, Also televised by Sky Chanel to all of Europe and then released on DVD by Image Entertainment. In a production by the Welsh National Opera he was privileged to perform for the Prince and Princess (Diana) of Wales.
Mr. Trussel has performed with the Metropolitan Opera as Shuisky in “Boris Gudonov,” with the Vancouver Opera as Herod in “Salome,” with the Opera de Nante as Sergei, as the Drum Major in Opera North’s production of “Wozzeck,” as Eumete in Los Angeles Opera’s “Ulysses,” and as Caliban in Dallas Opera’s production of Lee Hoiby’s “The Tempest.” Mr. Trussel’s other work includes sharing the role of Don Jose with the renowned tenor Placido Domingo playing opposite his friend and colleague Jenifer Larmore in performances of Don José with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera.
Other engagements have included appearances at the Metropolitan Opera as Stéva in Janacek’s “Jenufa” (his debut there), Herod in “Salome” at both the Metropolitan Opera and at Brussels’ Theater Royal de la Monnaie, as well as a return to the Monnaie as Golitsin in “Khovanchina”; the San Francisco Opera as Loge in “Das Rheingold”; and the Chicago Lyric Opera in Barber’s “Anthony and Cleopatra, (televised live on PBS), in Philip Glass’s “Fall of the House of Usher,” and as Alva in “Lulu.” He has also sung “Lulu” in Munich and Florence, and appeared as the Drum Major in a production of “Wozzeck” in Madrid. Singing the title role of Profokiev’s “The Gambler,” he has appeared at the Teatro Communale in Florence, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and in a concert performance with the Dallas Symphony.
Mr. Trussel has also appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Boston Symphony, with which he performed Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Jacque Trussel has championed both contemporary works and rarely performed masterpieces throughout the United States, singing such roles as Edmund in the American premiere of Albert Reimann’s “Lear” with the San Francisco Opera; Caliban (at the composer’s request) in the world premiere of Lee Hoiby’s “The Tempest” with the Des Moines Opera, also televised live on PBS; and the American premiere of Henry VIII with the San Diego Opera. With the Houston Grand Opera he performed the world premieres of Carlisle Floyd’s “Bilby’s Doll” and Thomas Pasatieri’s “The Seagull,” and the American premieres of Ralph Vaughan William’s “Hugh the Dover” and at the Santa Fe Opera, Kurt Weill’s “The Protagonist,” all to critical acclaim.
He made his debut directing “The Tales of Hoffmann” for the Sarasota Opera in 1996, and returned there the following year to produce the opera “Königskinder” by Humperdinck. Meanwhile, he sang in and directed “The Merry Widow,” which won a national prize for best amateur production in the U.S. Mr Trussel was then invited to produce the show in Russia at the International Amateur Theater Competition. He made his European directorial debut in France producing a new production of “Salome,” a highly successful production that achieved great critical acclaim.
Mr. Trussel’s Grammy nominated recording, Sounds and Sweet Airs was give rave reviews and is available at Amizon.com. He is also the featured tenor soloist on “Le Livre de la Jungle” by Charles Koechlin, awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or for 2000, and “Macbeth of Ernst Bloch,” awarded le Prix de l’Académie of Charles Cros. Mr. Trussel also appears on a recent DVD release of “Carmen” (Image Entertainment).
Topics: Faculty | Comments Off on Jacque Trussel
Comments are closed.