Biography
 
While a first-year Resident Artist, Mr. Kempson debuted at Pittsburgh Opera as Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia. He also sang Moralès in Carmen, a matinée performance as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, and joined the company's production of Eugene Onegin. He finished the season as a participant in the Merola Opera Program, singing excerpts as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Fluth in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the title role in Thomas' Hamlet. While completing his graduate studies at Manhattan School of Music Mr. Kempson was seen as Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus; George Jones in Street Scene; and Ronaldo Cabral in John Musto's Later the Same Evening, which was recorded for Albany Records. Other highlights include L'elisir d'amore with the Caramoor Festival; Carmina Burana with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, New Choral Society, and Connecticut Master Chorale; and Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music, and Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro at Peabody Conservatory. A 2009 Boston District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Dan has also received prizes from the Gerda Lissner Foundation (Third Prize), Opera Index, Inc (Encouragement Grant), and was a National Semifinalist in the 2009 Eleanor McCollum Competition of the Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Kempson grew up in Wilton, CT. Baritone Dan Kempson has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a singer whose onstage presence was matched by a fluid and handsomely burnished tone". His engagements during the 2011-2012 season currently include Belcore in L'elisir d'amore with Mississippi Opera, Figaro in The Barber of Seville with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra (FL), Carmina Burana with both Syracuse Opera and the Dance Alive National Ballet/Florida Symphony Orchestra, and the Baritone in Philip Glass’ Kepler with Spoleto Festival USA. During the 2010-2011 season Mr. Kempson was a second-year Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera, singing Argante in Rinaldo, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and a student matinée performance of Rossini's Figaro. He also sang Handel's Messiah with the Danbury Chamber Orchestra, selections from Haydn's The Creation with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Brahms' Requiem with the Erie Philharmonic, and made his debut with Fort Worth Opera in Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox.
Dan Kempson, baritone