Jay Hunter Morris

Another would-be heldentenor.

The son of two church musicians, Morris sang in the church choir, too, and as a teenager in garage rock bands. Then he studied music in Waco, moved to Nashville, and performed gospel and country music. After seeing La traviata in Dallas, he became so fascinated by opera that eventually, he studied voice at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

He made his debut on 5 November 1995 not in opera proper, but in Terrence McNally's drama with operatic music, Master class (about a master class held by Maria Callas), in the play's world premiere at the John Golden Theatre on Broadway. His opera career developed in places like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Santa Fe, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Beijing, Taipei, Tokyo, Monte Carlo, Nice, Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet), Strasbourg or Frankfurt – until arriving at the Met in 2007 (he returned every now and then until 2018).

He sang in numerous world premieres, but became most famous for both Siegfrieds (which was also his principal fare at the Met). He also sang Tristan, or Paul in Die tote Stadt.

Other than in opera, he appeared in concert, and very regularly in commercials.