Matthew PEARCE

Hailing from Lexington, KY, tenor Matthew Pearce is praised for his “confidence, brightness and high level of control” (Operawire). In the 2024-2025 season, he made company debuts as Don Pizarro in the North American premiere of Ferdinando Paer’s Leonora with Chicago Opera Theatre and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with Pacific Opera Victoria. He also reprised the role of Don José in Carmen twice, with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. He had previously performed the role at The Glimmerglass Festival, Portland Opera, Washington National Opera and the Chautauqua Institution. In 2025-2026, he makes his New Orleans Opera debut as First Commissioner in Dialogues of the Carmelites, joins the National Chorale as the tenor soloist in Messiah at David Geffen Hall, sings as a soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Lexington Philharmonic, performs the role of Colin in The Anonymous Lover with Opera Columbus, and joins Syracuse Orchestra as the tenor soloist in Defiant Requiem: Verdi in Terezin. Next season’s engagements include returning to Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, singing Third Jew in Salome with Kentucky Opera, and returning to the West Virginia Symphony for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Mr. Pearce recently made a role debut as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men with Livermore Valley Opera and Simon Tam in Slanted: An American Rock Opera with Opera Theatre St. Louis. He sang the Ground Controller in the Metropolitan Opera’s workshop of Grounded and performed as a soloist in Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln with Dallas Symphony and in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Chattanooga Symphony.
During his tenure as a Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera, he participated in the Kennedy Center Honors in a tribute for Justino Díaz, and sang Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, First Philistine in Samson et Dalila, Rodolfo in La bohème, Boyar in Boris Godunov, and First Prisoner in Fidelio. Mr. Pearce also had the honor of performing The Magician in a reduced version of The Consul at the U.S. Supreme Court for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Other highlights include the Guard in the world premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state with the New York Philharmonic, performances of John Corigliano’s Poem in October with the Juilliard Orchestra and Juilliard’s AXIOM ensemble, his David Geffen Hall debut in the New York premiere of Angela Rice’s Easter Oratorio Thy Will be Done with the National Chorale, and Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the Chautauqua Institution.

Mr. Pearce has received training from institutions including the Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Chautauqua Voice Program, and the Aspen Music Festival, and holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music in Voice from the Juilliard School.

Outside of performing, Mr. Pearce is an accomplished teacher, teaching masterclasses and seminars at universities across the country. He serves on the board of OperaLex, an organization dedicated to supporting students of opera at the University of Kentucky.