Jeff Martin is an American operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

who made a career based in Germany, singing at international opera houses and concert halls. Focused on character roles, he has appeared as Mime in Wagner's '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'' and Herod in ''

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

'' by Richard Strauss, and appeared in several world premieres.

Career

Martin studied voice at Westminster Choir College and

Cincinnati University The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

. Based in Germany, Martin appeared as Herod in ''

'' by Richard Strauss at the

Opernhaus Dortmund Opernhaus Dortmund is the opera house of Dortmund, Germany, operated by the Theater Dortmund organisation. A new opera house opened in 1966, replacing an earlier facility which opened in 1904 and was destroyed during World War I. It was built on ...

in 2007. A reviewer noted his precise and sharp character tenor. He performed the role of Pedrillo in Mozart's '' Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' at the Staatstheater Nürnberg in 2008, conducted by Christof Prick. He appeared at the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...

in Moscow, in 2011 as the Astrologer in '' The Golden Cockerel'', conducted by Vassily Sinaisky and directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, in a production broadcast in Europe. In 2012, he performed there as Valzacchi in '' Der Rosenkavalier'' by Richard Strauss, directed by Stephen Lawless. He appeared as Reb Alter in the German premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's '' Wir gratulieren!'' in a

concert version A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers. Concert performances are commonly presented in c ...

for chamber orchestra at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2012. He took part in several world premieres, as the Inquisitor in

Francesco Filidei Francesco Filidei (born 1973) is an Italian concert organist and composer. A student of Salvatore Sciarrino, he has performed internationally. As a composer, he has collaborated with singer-songwriter Claire Diterzi and written operas premiered i ...

's ''Giordano Bruno'' in Paris, as

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

Michel Tabachnik Michel Tabachnik (born November 10, 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. Promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on music ...

's ''Benjamin, dernière nuit'' at the Opéra de Lyon and in

Nana Forte Nana Forte (born 1981) is a Slovenian composer. She was born in Zagorje ob Savi, Slovenia. In 2005, Forte graduated in composition from the Music Academy in Ljubljana under Marko Mihevc. She continued her postgraduate studies at Hochschule für ...

's ''Paradies oder nach Eden'' at the

Vorarlberger Landestheater Vorarlberger Landestheater is a theatre in Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, on ...

in Bregenz. He appeared as Mime in Wagner's '' Das Rheingold'' and ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'' in the project ''

Der Ring in Minden ''Der Ring in Minden'' was a project to stage Richard Wagner's cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' at the Stadttheater Minden, beginning in 2015 with ''Das Rheingold'', followed by the other parts in the succeeding years, and culminating with the com ...

'', completed in 2019. He has appeared at opera houses including the Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Stuttgart, the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

in Dresden, the

Hamburgische Staatsoper The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Genera ...

Oper Köln The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court th ...

Opéra national du Rhin The Opéra national du Rhin is an opera company which performs in Alsace, eastern France. It includes the Opéras in Strasbourg, in Mulhouse, where the Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin, also known as the Ballet Du Rhin, is based, and in Colmar, ...

in Strasbourg and

Nationaltheater Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18 ...

. In concert, he performed as the Evangelist in Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'', among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Jeff American operatic tenors Living people Princeton University alumni University of Cincinnati alumni Year of birth missing (living people)