Establishing himself as a notable singer on opera stages across the globe, Michael J. Hawk’s voice has been described as “distinguished,” “commanding,” and “stentorian.” For the past two seasons, Mr. Hawk has been part of the inaugural Resident Artist program with Seattle Opera, where his current assignments include Silvio in Pagliacci, Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte and cover of Scarpia in Tosca. Also this season, Mr. Hawk will make his South Dakota Symphony Orchestra debut as Per Hansa in Douglas Moore’s Giants in the Earth and will sing Bobinet in La Vie Parisienne and cover Steven Kodaly in She Loves Me with Opera Saratoga.

 

Last season with Seattle Opera, Mr. Hawk covered Donner in Das Rheingold and Melisso in Alcina, and sang Fiorello and covered Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well as presenting a recital and appearing on the 60th Anniversary Concert & Gala.  He also joined Caramoor as the baritone soloist for Eros & Co and made his Opera Saratoga debut singing Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Big Jule in Guys and Dolls.  

 

In recent seasons, he sang Papageno in The Magic Flute with the Buffalo Philharmonic and returned to Hillman Opera, his alma mater, to sing Dr. Buchanan in Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke.  With Santa Fe Opera, he sang Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Rene Gallimard in a workshop of M. Butterfly with ALT, and the Officer/Croupier/Junkman in Candide, and covered Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic. He has sung Ford in Falstaff - opposite Sir Bryn Terfel - and the title role in Don Giovanni (Aspen Opera Theatre), Escamillo in Carmen (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra), Der fünfte Richter in the U.S. premiere of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane (Bard Summerscape), and the Cobbler in The Juniper Tree (Wolf Trap Opera).

 

With Los Angeles Opera, he has sung the roles of Pontius Pilate in Las tres mujeres de Jerusalén and Ophémon in Bologne's L'amant Anonyme, Schaunard in La bohème, Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, Sir Gualtiero Raleigh in Roberto Devereux, and Ebro/Furore/Caronte in La morte d’Orfeo and covered Dandini in La Cenerentola and Wolfram in Tannhäuser. In his first season with the company in 2018-2019, Michael sang the title role in the world premiere of Mollicone’s Moses with Maestro James Conlon, Caireles in El gato montés, and Prince Arjuna in Satyagraha.

 

Hawk is an accomplished concert artist. He recently presented two recitals, one featuring the music of Johnathan Dove with pianist Sandra Leary at the Rosch Recital Hall, and the other a program of art song and Broadway classics with pianist MiKyung Kim at the Fredonia Opera House.In 2022, he was the bass soloist in the St. Matthew Passion, a co-production with the Hamburg Ballet, and sang alongside Susan Graham in a Liederabend at Los Angeles Opera. He has also debuted with the American Symphony Orchestra as the baritone soloist in Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Symphonie. With the Chautauqua Institution, he has sung the baritone solo in Fauré’s Requiem and presented a Swedish Language Recital.

 

Hawk is a recent graduate of the Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. In 2018, he was a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Concert of Arias, and in the summer of 2018, he joined the Apprentice Singer Program at Santa Fe Opera.