Erik Nordstrom (Baritone)

In the 2023/24 season, he made his house debut with Kentucky Opera as Samuel in Pirates of Penzance, and performed Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music (CCM). This summer, Erik debuts with Wolf Trap Opera covering Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. Erik will join Pittsburgh Opera as a Resident Artist for the 24/25 season and will make his mainstage debut as Angelotti in Tosca.

During the 2022/23 season, Nordstrom performed the roles of Marquis de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites and Hawkins Fuller in Fellow Travelers at CCM. In the summer of 2023, he debuted at Des Moines Metro Opera where he covered Pantalon in Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges, and El Dancaïro in Carmen. Additionally, Nordstrom returned to Cincinnati Opera where he workshopped the role of Deacon 1 in Gregory Spears’ The Righteous, which will premiere at Santa Fe Opera in summer 2024.

Erik made his professional debut in 2019 as a Studio Artist with Central City Opera (CCO) covering Second Mate in their production of Billy Budd. He then returned to CCO in 2021 to perform Marullo in Rigoletto. He debuted at Cincinnati Opera in 2022 where he workshopped the roles of Interrogator/Customs Officer in Scott Davenport Richards’ Robeson in Moscow, as well as appearing in the ensemble for their summer season. 

Possessing a rare sensitivity to style and poetry, Erik is regularly engaged by the Cincinnati Song Initiative, a rapidly growing art song organization led by CEO Samuel Martin. In 2019 he teamed with visual artist Jean Balestri and pianist Andrew Crooks to create a through-performed recital that incorporated Appalachian folk tunes, Mahler lieder, Ravel mélodie, and English art song. The performance, titled Me and My Shadow, included projections by Balestri which interacted with the piano, vocal line, and texts of each of the pieces to create a dreamlike atmosphere. 

Erik received a 2019 Encouragement Award and was named a 2023 District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, as well as receiving the Ralph Corbett Award in the CCM 2022 Corbett Competition. Nordstrom earned his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Lawrence University where he studied with Steven Spears, and his Master of Music in Opera Performance from CCM where he studied with renowned voice teachers Bill McGraw, and Tom Baresel. He also recently received his Artist Diploma from CCM, under the tutelage of Quinn Ankrum.

Mr. Nordstrom's residency is generously sponsored by Hilda Fu.