Michael J. Hawk’s voice has been described as “distinguished,” “commanding,” and “stentorian.” The young baritone is establishing himself as a notable singer on opera stages across the globe. During the 2022-2023 season, he sings Papageno in The Magic Flute with the Buffalo Philharmonic and returns to Hillman Opera, his alma mater, to sing Dr. Buchanan in Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke. Michael will sing 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 the 2021-2022 season, he sang Pontius Pilate in Las tres mujeres de Jerusalén and covered Dandini in La Cenerentola at Los Angeles Opera. At Aspen Opera Theater, he then sang Ford in Falstaff, opposite Sir Bryn Terfel, and performed the title role in Don Giovanni. Then during the 2020-2021 season, he sang Ophémon in Joseph Bologne's L'amant Anonyme and covered Wolfram in Tannhäuser at Los Angeles Opera. He also sang Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Santa Fe Opera.
During the 2019-2020 season, he sang Schaunard in La bohème, Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, Sir Gualtiero Raleigh in Roberto Devereux, and Ebro/Furore/Caronte in La morte d’Orfeo at Los Angeles Opera. At Sante Fe Opera with ALTO, Arts Integration, he workshopped Rene Gallimard in M. Butterfly. In the 2018-2019 season, Michael sang the title role in the world premiere of Henry Mollicone’s Moses under the baton of Maestro James Conlon, Caireles in El gato montés, and Prince Arjuna in Satyagraha with Los Angeles Opera. He also made his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and then Der fünfte Richter in the U.S. Premier of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane at Bard Summerscape. Other engagements include covering Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic and the Officer/Croupier/Junkman in Candide at Santa Fe Opera. He also portrayed the Cobbler in The Juniper Tree at Wolf Trap Opera.
Hawk is also an accomplished concert artist. 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.