Eric Ferring

Emmy-winning, Billboard-charting American tenor Eric Ferring is known internationally as “a prodigiously gifted lyric tenor” (Opera News) for his “fine, gleaming tenor” (New York Classical Review), as well as for having “a beautifully round and warm timbre, expressive, and with great finesse” (Olyrix). His expertise ranges from early bel canto repertoire and the music of Handel and Mozart to the origination of contemporary operatic roles.

Eric Ferring’s 2025-2026 season includes return performances with Art Song Chicago and Tampa Oratorio Singers (Elijah), as well as debuts with the Knoxville Symphony (Messiah), Charlotte Symphony (Messiah), New Jersey Symphony (Mozart’s Requiem), Opera Carolina (Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi), and the Umeri Choir (Mozart’s Missa brevis in F Major). Eric Ferring will also record his third solo album in 2026 and will release it with Lexicon Classics.

Eric Ferring’s 2024-2025 season includes performances with conductor Emmanuelle Haïm and her ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée, for a program of Rameau and Handel in Paris, Lille, and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic (debut). He also sang Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Portland Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Evansville Philharmonic, and Mozart’s Requiem with the North Carolina Symphony. In New York City, he joined the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center (formerly Mostly Mozart) to perform Gomatz in Act 1 of Mozart's Zaide, conducted by Dame Jane Glover. With Haymarket Opera, he performed the role of Artabano in Artaserse, which is also being released on Cedille Records in 2026, and sang Oronte in Alcina with the company at The Ravinia Festival.

Previous notable engagements include his principal role debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Lurcanio in Ariodante, a role he also performed for his Opéra de Paris debut in a new Robert Carsen production. With the Metropolitan Opera, he bowed as Arturo in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, Tamino in The Magic Flute, and Pong in Turandot. He has sung Fenton in Falstaff with Santa Fe Opera, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Opéra national du Rhin and the Verbier Festival, and Lysander in_ A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ with Opéra de Rouen.

In 2022, Eric Ferring released his solo debut album No Choice but Love on Lexicon Classics, featuring works by LGBTQIA+ composers. This was followed by 2023’s We Have Tomorrow, featuring pianist Madeline Slettedahl and French string quartet, Quatuor Agate, and recorded under the Delos label.

Eric Ferring was an Apprentice Singer at Santa Fe Opera, where he was awarded the 2017 Richard Tucker Memorial Scholarship. He also participated in the Académie de Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ Gerdine Young Artist Program, receiving a career award from the Richard Gaddes Fund for Young Artists, and was a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera.

Eric Ferring’s numerous awards include top prizes at many competitions including the George London Foundation for Singers, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, American Opera Society of Chicago, the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, as well as grants and awards from the Richard Tucker Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Eric Ferring is a native of Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated from Drake University with his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and from The Boston Conservatory with his Master of Music in Opera Performance. Eric Ferring is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. He is also an Assistant Regional Director at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the Executive Director of Art Song Chicago, and Project Curator for Lexicon Classics.