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.