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Press Releases
Baritone Justin Austin Announces 2025-2026 Season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mallory McFarland | Morahan Arts and Media
mallory@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646.378.9386
Baritone Justin Austin
Announces 2025-2026 Season
House Debut at San Francisco Opera as Figaro
in The Barber of Seville
Fugitives Presented by New York Festival of Song at
Kaufman Music Center
Performances of Suite from Terence Blanchard’s
Fire Shut Up In My Bones at The Civic Theatre in
New Orleans, Muriel Kauffman Theatre in Kansas City,
and at University of Notre Dame
Return to Houston Grand Opera for the Role of
Jake in Porgy and Bess
Multimedia Song Cycle Performance of COTTON with
J’nai Bridges at La Jolla Music Society
Return to Washington National Opera for the Role of
Remus in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha
“his vocal finesse and dramatic ease continue to astound” –Opera Magazine
“a velvet-voiced, intensely charismatic performance” –The New Yorker
“Austin knows how to balance force and frailty in his voice to bold dramatic effect, without ever sacrificing his careful control.” –Washington Post
September 4, 2025 (New York, NY) — Drama Desk Award-nominated baritone Justin Austin announces his 2025-2026 season with performances across the US. The International Opera Awards’ 2024 Rising Star of the Year and recipient of the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award makes his house debut at San Francisco Opera in the title role of The Barber of Seville and joins Houston Grand Opera as Jake in a new production of Porgy and Bess alongside Angel Blue. Additionally, he returns to Washington National Opera to star in Damien Sneed’s new edition of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha as Remus, La Jolla Music Society for Damien Geter’s COTTON, and New York Festival of Song for Fugitives, a new recital program. He also brings the concert suite of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones to New Orleans Opera, the Harriman-Jewell Series, and Notre Dame University.
Justin Austin kicks off his 2025-2026 season with a concert version of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones on Sunday, October 12, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series. Later this season, he will continue to tour this program on Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. at The Civic Theatre presented by New Orleans Opera, and on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center presented by the University of Notre Dame. In these productions, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones to life in an approachable concert format, with video projections by Andrew F. Scott.
Austin continues the 25-26 season with the Houston Grand Opera from October 24 - November 14, 2025 for Porgy and Bess. Conducted by James Gaffigan, Austin joins a cast of opera stars including soprano Angel Blue, tenor Demetrious Sampson Jr., baritone Blake Denson, as well as bass-baritone Michael Samuel, as he takes on the role of Jake in this special production celebrating 50 years since HGO first presented the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, restoring the “folk opera” to its creators’ full original vision in a landmark production that earned HGO both a Tony and a Grammy.
In January, Austin stars alongside soprano J’Nai Bridges and pianist Laura Ward for COTTON on Friday, January 16, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall, co-presented by the La Jolla Music Society and San Diego Opera. The spellbinding multimedia song-cycle brings together the extraordinary cotton photography of John Dowell with newly commissioned poems by renowned poets, including Nikki Giovanni, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Alora Young. Brilliantly set to music by composer Damien Geter, for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and piano, the song cycle unfolds against the backdrop of enormous, constantly evolving images projected throughout this mesmerizing song experience. This profound journey, deep into the world of cotton, balances tragic history with resilience, hope, and high art.
On Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. at Merkin Hall, Austin features in Fugitives, presented by New York Festival of Song and led by Artistic Director Steven Blier. A revival of an acclaimed program last heard in 2008, the playlist includes songs from the concert stage, the movies, Broadway, and Berlin’s cabarets, tracing the varied fates of the composers who faced destruction during Hitler’s rise to power—some to begin new lives and brilliant careers abroad, others to meet with darker ends. The concert features works by Kurt Weill, Franz Schreker, Alexander Zemlinsky, Friedrich Hollaender, Kurt Tucholsky, Erich Korngold, Hanns Eisler, and many others, with Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois at the piano.
In March, Austin takes on the role of Remus in a world premiere production of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha from March 12 - 22, 2026 at Eisenhower Theater, presented by Washington National Opera. Austin stars alongside sopranos Viviana Goodwin and Tichina Vaughn in a story following young Treemonisha in post-Reconstruction era Arkansas, with music drawing from ragtime and folk genres. The production reimagines the incomplete piece with direction by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, musical arrangement and orchestrations by composer Damien Sneed, and dialogue and lyrics by playwright Kyle Bass.
Austin closes out his 2025-2026 season with his house debut as Figaro in San Francisco Opera’s production of The Barber of Seville on June 3, 6, 12, 17, and 21, 2026. Austin performs alongside mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu, tenor Jack Swanson, bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi, and bass Riccardo Fassi, as Benjamin Manis returns to conduct director Emilio Sagi’s flamenco-inspired production, in which sun-bleached buildings are the backdrop to colorful costumes as the characters’ plans for escape become more and more outrageous.
Concert Information
Harriman-Jewell Series: Fire Shut Up In My Bones: Terence Blanchard and Ensemble
Sunday, October 12, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.
Muriel Kauffman Theatre | 1601 Broadway Boulevard | Kansas City, MO 64108
Link: https://www.hjseries.org/events/2526terenceblanchard
Program:
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones to life in an approachable concert format with video projections by Andrew F. Scott.
________________________________________
Houston Grand Opera: Porgy and Bess (Jake)
October 24 - November 14, 2025
Brown Theater | 510 Preston Street | Houston, TX 77002
Link: https://www.houstongrandopera.org/on-stage/porgy-and-bess
________________________________________
La Jolla Music Society & San Diego Opera: COTTON
Friday, January 16, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
The Baker-Baum Concert Hall | 7600 Fay Avenue | San Diego, CA 92037
Link: https://theconrad.org/events/cotton/
Program:
A spellbinding multimedia song-cycle bringing together the extraordinary cotton photography of John Dowell with newly commissioned poems by renowned poets, including Nikki Giovanni, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Alora Young, set to music by composer Damien Geter.
Artists:
J’nai Bridges, soprano
Justin Austin, baritone
Laura Ward, piano
________________________________________
New York Festival of Song: Fugitives
Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 8:00 p.m.
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | 129 W 67th St | New York, NY 10023
Link: https://nyfos.org/25-26-season/
Program:
A revival of a favorite program of songs from the concert stage, the movies, Broadway, and Berlin’s cabarets with works by Kurt Weill, Franz Schreker, Alexander Zemlinsky, Friedrich Hollaender, Kurt Tucholsky, Erich Korngold, Hanns Eisler, and many others.
Artists:
Justin Austin, baritone
Bénédicte Jourdois, piano
Steven Blier, piano
________________________________________
New Orleans Opera: Fire Shut Up In My Bones (Concert Suite)
Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 2:30 p.m.
The Civic Theatre | 510 O'Keefe Ave | New Orleans, LA 70113
Link: https://www.neworleansopera.org/tickets
Program:
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones to life in an approachable concert format with video projections by Andrew F. Scott.
________________________________________
University of Notre Dame: Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones: In Concert”
Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Leighton Concert Hall, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center | 100 Performing Arts Center |
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Link: https://performingarts.nd.edu/event/18436/terence-blanchards-fire-shut-up-in-my-bones-in-concert/
Program:
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones to life in an approachable concert format with video projections by Andrew F. Scott.
_______________________________________
Washington National Opera: Treemonisha (Remus)
March 12 - 22, 2026
Eisenhower Theater | 2700 F St NW | Washington, DC 20004
Link: https://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/home/2025-2026/treemonisha/
Program:
Damien Sneed and Kyle Bass bring Scott Joplin’s “forgotten opera” into a new era.
Artists:
Viviana Goodwin, Treemonisha
Justin Austin, Remus
Tichina Vaughn, Monisha
________________________________________
San Francisco Opera: The Barber of Seville (Figaro, House Debut)
June 3 - 21, 2026
War Memorial Opera House | 301 Van Ness Avenue | San Francisco, CA 94102-4509
Link: https://www.sfopera.com/operas/the-barber-of-seville/
Program:
In director Emilio Sagi’s flamenco-inspired production, sun-bleached buildings are the backdrop to colorful costumes as the characters’ plans for escape become more and more outrageous. Benjamin Manis returns to conduct this effervescent score.
Artists (June 3, 6, 12, 17, 21):
Justin Austin, Figaro
Jack Swanson, Count Almaviva
Hongni Wu, Rosina
Patrick Carfizzi, Bartolo
Riccardo Fassi, Don Basilio
About Justin Austin
Possessing a “mighty lyric voice” (The New York Times) “with a burly, burnished tone capable of striking nuance and color” (Washington Post), Drama Desk Award-nominated baritone Justin Austin was named Rising Star of the Year at the 2024 International Opera Awards and is a recipient of the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. Deemed an “impossibly irresistible” (Bachtrack) “natural performer – a star awaiting a galaxy to form around him” (Washington Post), he has been praised as a “velvet-voiced, intensely charismatic” (The New Yorker) artist who sings with “ravishing beauty” (Opera) and displays “immaculate musicianship” (Seen and Heard International).
Last season, Justin made his house debut at LA Opera in Roméo et Juliette (Mercutio) and returned to the company later in the season in his role debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He made returns to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to star in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House (Lindon), Carnegie Hall for Brahms’s Deutsches Requiem with the Cecilia Chorus of New York, and Stuttgart, Germany, for a concert with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Opera for Peace. He toured selections from Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut Up In My Bones at La Jolla Music Society, The Soraya, and the Charleston Gaillard Center, and conceived and co-artistic directed My Brother’s Keeper with New York Festival of Song at Kaufman Music Center. In recital, he appeared with Houston Grand Opera, Sag Harbor Song Festival, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and Emory & Henry University.
Favorite highlights of recent seasons include: the world premiere of Damien Geter’s American Apollo (Thomas Eugene McKeller) at Des Moines Metro Opera; the company premiere of Brett Dean's Hamlet at The Metropolitan Opera (house debut), with later returns in Peter Grimes (Ned Keene) and the company’s premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Motorcycle Cop); house and role debuts in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones and Champion at Lyric Opera of Chicago; his role debut as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette at Washington National Opera; Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater, which earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for playing George Armstrong; as Captain Macheath in the film adaptation of Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera produced by City Lyric Opera; the world premiere and commercial recording of Jack Perla and Rajiv Joseph’s Shalimar the Clown at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he created the role of Pyarelel Kaul; the title role of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Oratorio Society of New York and the baritone soloist in Margaret Bonds’ Ballad of the Brown King with the Cecilia Chorus, both at Carnegie Hall; a solo recital a the Park Avenue Armory with pianist Howard Watkins.
In concert, Justin gave the Marian Anderson Vocal Award Recital at the Kennedy Center as the 2024 recipient. He has additionally been featured with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Washington Performing Arts, the Kimmel Center, Opera Maine, Opera Saratoga, Mistral Music, Voices of Ascension, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Longy School of Music with the Celebrity Series of Boston, Copland House, Strathmore Music Center, Lyric Fest at 92NY, Gore Recital Hall at the University of Delaware, and Spivey Hall at Clayton State University, plus the Glimmerglass, Hamburg International, Penn Square, Lakes Area, and Moab Music Festivals. He has previously joined IDAGIO for online concerts at the Global Concert Hall.
Justin has received accolades and awards from The Recording Academy, NAACP, George London Foundation, Washington National Opera, Opera Ebony, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Manhattan School of Music, NANM, Choir Academy of Harlem, and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He is the winner of the St. Louis Theater Circle 2025 Outstanding Achievement in Opera award for his appearance in The Barber of Seville at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and is the recipient of a 2023 Mabel Dorn Reeder Award from Opera Theatre of St. Louis which goes to “the single artist in each season with the greatest potential to make a significant contribution to the art form of opera.” Justin is under the tutelage and mentorship of Catherine Malfitano.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Justin Austin is an alumnus of the Choir Academy of Harlem, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Heidelberg Lied Akademie, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. and B.M.). To learn more, please visit www.justin-austin.com.
Photo at top of release by Dario Acosta
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