Grayson Hirst, Founder and Artistic Director

The distinguished American tenor, Grayson Hirst, has performed with leading American orchestras from Alaska to Puerto Rico, among them the Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, National, San Francisco and St. Louis Symphonies, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the New York Chamber Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.

Grayson Hirst launched his operatic career with a prestigious New York debut at Carnegie Hall singing the stratospheric role of Tonio in the American Opera Society's revival of Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment with Beverly Sills.

His highly acclaimed New York City Opera debut as Peter Quint in Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw took place soon after. Grayson Hirst went on to appear in more than 70 leading roles with numerous opera companies throughout the United States, among them the Boston, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Mississippi, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, San Diego, Toledo and Virginia Opera Companies, the San Antonio Symphony Opera Festival, Birmingham Civic Opera, the Opera Company of Jacksonville, Houston Grand Opera, Michigan Opera Theater and the San Francisco Spring Opera Theater, to name but a few.

Concert, opera and recital appearances in China, Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Italy, Mexico and Brazil have brought international recognition to the California-born tenor. Grayson Hirst's national opera telecasts and music festival appearances have included PBS, NBC, CBS, NPR, Artpark, Newport, Aspen, Caramoor, Lindsborg, Kalamazoo, Flagstaff, Alaska, Colorado, Wolf Trap, Saratoga, Marlboro, Brattleboro, Madeira, Sedona and Bard.

Grammy Award nominee Grayson Hirst has recorded opera and oratorio for Disque VDE Gallo and for CRI, Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin for Leonarda Records and Janácek’s The Diary of One Who Vanished for Arabesque Records, a disc of unknown songs by Dvorák for Spectrum Records, Handel’s opera Acis and Galatea and the Heinrich Schütz Matthäus-Passion for Newport Classic Recordings, and Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, op. 31, for Vox Cum Laude. A recording of Mr. Hirst’s New York operatic debut as Tonio in La Fille du Régiment was recently released on the Adagio Classics label.

Grayson Hirst’s career extends beyond his notable achievements as a singer to include distinction as an educator. He balances the responsibilities of his position as professor of voice at the University of Arizona with the demands of a busy performing and recording schedule. He frequently serves as an adjudicator for competitions and has served as an advisory panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts Music Program. Grayson has also devoted himself to the evolution of Sons of Orpheus as its Artistic Director since founding the organization in the fall of 1991.

Mr. Hirst is a scholarship alumnus of UCLA, the Music Academy of the West, the Metropolitan Opera Studio, the Aspen Music Festival School and The Juilliard School where he was a protégé of the renowned Jennie Tourel.