Sean MichaelPlumb

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  • Baritone

About Sean Michael

Hailed for his “full, exciting lyric baritone” (Opera News) and “elegant lyricism and responsive musicality” (New York Times), in the 24/25 season, Sean looks forward to returning to the Bayersiche Staastoper to perform Frank/Fritz in Die Tote Stadt. He will also return to the Metropolitan Opera to perform the role of Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Schaunard in La boheme. As well as the Title Role in Billy Budd at Teatro Colón. In concert, Sean will perform Schönberg’s Die Jakobsleiter in a performance at the Elbphilharmonie conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.

Last season included Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bayersiche Staastoper and Seattle Opera, Schaunard La bohème the Metropolitan Opera, Harlekin Ariadne auf Naxos at the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Younger Galileo/Salviati in Galileo Galilei at the Opera Theatre St. Louis. Sean also performed Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and appeared in the Richard Tucker Gala at Carnegie Hall.

Career highlights include a host of international appearances including Albert Werther at the Houston Grand Opera, Harlekin Ariadne auf Naxos at the Metropolitan Opera, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris and frequent appearances at the Bayerische Staatsoper in roles such as Guglielmo Così fan tutte, Papageno Die Zauberflöte, Dandini La cenerentola, Schaunard La bohème, and Prosdocimo Il turco in Italia. Sean has appeared with several top orchestras such as the LA Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Winner of a 2022 Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, Sean Michael Plumb was honoured by President Obama as a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts at a ceremony at The White House and he has garnered a multitude of awards. He was graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied under renowned instructors Mikael Eliasen and William Stone.

Sean Michael is based in New York, USA

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Contact

Nicholas Moloney

Nicholas Moloney

Senior Artist Manager
Ivo Ivanov

Ivo Ivanov

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

European Management with Askonas Holt
General Management with Étude Arts

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Season Highlights

Sep 2024 - Oct 2024
Bayerische Staatsoper
Die Tote Stadt (Frank/Fritz)
Nov 2024
Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg
Die Jakobslaiter (Concert)
Dec 2024
Metropolitan Opera, New York
Die Zauberflöte (Papageno)
Jan 2025
The Metropolitan Opera, New York
La bohème (Schaunard)
Jul 2025 - Jul 2025
Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires
Billy Budd Erik Nielsen (conductor)

Photos

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Selected Repertoire

Adams

Nixon in China (Chou-En Lai)

Berlioz

Béatrice et Bénédict (Claudio)

Bernstein

Candide (Maximilian)   •   West Side Story (Riff)

Bizet

Les Pêcheurs de perles (Zurga)

Britten

Albert Herring (Sid)   •   Billy Budd (Billy Budd)   •   A Midsummer Night's Dream (Demetrius)   •   Owen Wingrave (Owen Wingrave)   •   Peter Grimes (Ned Keene)

Debussy

Pelléas et Mélisande (Pelléas)

Donizetti

Don Pasquale (Malatesta)   •   L’elisir d’amore (Belcore)

Gluck

Iphigénie en Tauride (Oreste)

Gounod

Faust (Valentin)   •   Roméo et Juliette (Mercutio)

Heggie

The End of the Affair (Maurice Bendrix)   •   It’s a Wonderful Life (Harry Bailey)

Korngold

Die tote Stadt (Frank-Fritz)

Massenet

Manon (Lescaut)   •   Thaı̈s (Athanaël)   •   Werther (Albert)

Mazzoli

Breaking the Waves (Jan)

Mozart

Cosı̀ fan tutte (Guglielmo)   •   Le nozze di Figaro (Conte Almaviva)   •   Die Zauberflöte (Papageno)

Mussorgsky

Boris Godunov (Andrey Shchelkalov)

Picker

An American Tragedy (Clyde Griffiths)

Poulenc

Les mamelles de Tirésias (Theatre Director)

Puccini

La bohème (Marcello / Schaunard)   •   Manon Lescaut (Lescaut)

Purcell

Dido and Aeneas (Aeneas)

Ravel

L’heure espagnole (Ramiro)

Rossini

Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)   •   La cenerentola (Dandini)   •   Le comte Ory (Raimbaud)   •    L’italiana in Algeri (Taddeo)   •    Il turco in Italia (Prosdocimo)

Spears

Fellow Travelers (Hawkins Fuller)

Strauss, J.

Die Fledermaus (Frank)

Strauss, R.

Ariadne auf Naxos (Harlekin)   •   Capriccio (Olivier)

Szymanowski

King Roger (King Roger)

Tchaikovsky

Eugene Onegin (Onegin)   •   The Queen of Spades (Yeletsky), Iolanta (Robert)

Tesori

Grounded (Sensor)

Ullmann

Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Emperor Überall)

Verdi

Don Carlos (Rodrigue)

Wagner

Tristan und Isolde (Melot)

News

Press

  • Puccini - La Bohème (Schaunard)

    The Metropolitan Opera
    Jan 2025 - Jan 2025

  • Tristan und Isolde (Act II) - Melot

    Munich
    Nov 2024 - Nov 2024

    • Enfin, Sean Michael Plumb ne bénéfice que de quelques répliques de Melot (et une de Kurwenal), mais il y fait entendre une voix de baryton aigu très intéressante, à la projection aisée, qui s’inscrit parfaitement dans l’excellence générale.

    • Ein „Heimspiel“ als Ensemblemitglied der Bayerischen Staatsoper hat Sean Michael Plumb, in der Doppelrolle als Melot und Kurwenal agiert er solide.

  • Die Tote Stadt (Frank and Fritz)

    Bayerische Staatsoper
    Oct 2024

    • Das war eine ganz große Leistung! Nicht minder zu begeistern wusste der Bariton Sean Michael Plumb, der den Frank und den Pierrot Friz mit ebenfalls phantastischer italienischer Gesangstechnik und sonorem hellem Timbre wunderbar auf Linie und ungemein ausdrucksstark sang. Sein sehr inbrünstig dargebotenes Lied Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen, geriet zum Höhepunkt des Abends!

    • Sean Michael Plumb gab den Frank und Fritz mit einem klangschönen Bariton, sodass das Lied des Pierrot ebenfalls zu einem kleinen Höhepunkt wurde.

    • Notevole anche Sean Michael Plumb nel ruolo di Frank/Fritz e la sua interpretazione del lied di Pierrot “Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen”, nostalgica al punto giusto.

    • Sean Michael Plumb präsentiert auch in der Doppelrolle Frank/ Fritz seinen kräftigen Bariton in dunkler Färbung, den er facettenreich einsetzt. Seine bekannte Arie "Mein Sehnen mein Wähnen" gelingt ihm mit Gefühl und guter Intonation.

  • Seattle Opera - The Barber of Seville (Figaro)

    Seattle Opera
    May 2024

    • From his charismatic entrance, accompanied by the famous cavatina "Largo al factotum", and recalling the aura of a real rock star like Elvis Presley, the Figaro played by Plumb immediately conquered the audience with his energy and audacity, sparking thunderous applause among the spectators. Plumb demonstrated good mastery of rapid syllables, with full, timbred centers and high notes and good homogeneity across the entire vocal range.

  • Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia (Figaro)

    Bayerische Staatsoper
    Nov 2023 - Nov 2023

    • Sean Michael Plumb ofrece un Fígaro bien timbrado, con un centro potente y dúctil, así como con luminosos agudos. La línea de canto es limpia, clara, con rica dinámica y siempre debidamente expresiva: un barbero como debe ser. Sean Michael Plumb delivers a well-toned Figaro, with a powerful and ductile centre, as well as luminous trebles. The singing line is clean, clear, richly dynamic and always suitably expressive: a barber as it should be.

  • Puccini - La Bohème (Schaunard)

    The Metropolitan Opera
    Oct 2023 - Nov 2023

    • an … assertive, stylish Schaunard from the young baritone Sean Michael Plumb,

    • American baritone Sean Michael Plumb as Schaunard was jovial and a perfect member of this season’s cast. His voice is full of life and character as he sings. His eyes glistened and his facial expressions matched the tone. [Plumb recently debuted at the Met last year, 2022, as Harlekin in “Ariadne auf Naxos” led by Marek Janowski.] He is definitely a singer on the rise!

    • Sean Michael Plumb’s Schaunard was a standout, with a warm, elegant baritone that projected easily through the auditorium. He also has an engaging stage presence, dispatching the physical comedy of the final act with a youthful naturalness.

    • Plumb displayed an impressive baritone and a ready smile, who can steal a scene with the best of them.

  • Mussorgski- Boris Godunov (Andrej Schtschelkalow)

    Bayerische Staatsoper
    Jul 2023

    • Sean Michael Plumb a repris avec une belle réussite le rôle de Chtchelkalov, timbre suave, beau phrasé, tenu à la création de la production par l’alors jeune Igor Golovatenko qui a fait du chemin depuis. Sean Michael Plumb has successfully taken on the role of Shchelkalov, with his suave timbre and beautiful phrasing, played at the production's premiere by the then young Igor Golovatenko, who has come a long way since then.

    • Tant le Chtchelkalov de Sean Michael Plumb que le Grigori de Dmytro Popov font montre d’un chant irréprochable et d’une belle présence dramatique. Both Sean Michael Plumb's Shchelkalov and Dmytro Popov's Grigori display impeccable singing and a fine dramatic presence.

  • Britten - Peter Grimes (Ned Keene)

    Bayerische Staatsoper
    Sep 2022

    • Dans les rôles secondaires, Sean Michael Plumb (Ned Keene) se fait remarquer grâce à sa liberté et sa puissance vocales, qu’il emploie stratégiquement pour expliciter le côté tantôt comique, tantôt pervers de son personnage. In the supporting roles, Sean Michael Plumb (Ned Keene) stands out for his vocal freedom and power, which he uses strategically to make his character's comic and perverse sides clear.

  • Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos (Harlekin)

    The Metropolitan Opera
    Mar 2022

    • Sean Michael Plumb, in his Met debut, was a frisky Harlequin with an impressive voice.

    • Plumb has an appealing baritone that has a rich warm sound that in a larger role will definitely shine when he returns to the Met. In his short song, “Lieben, Hassen, Hoffen, Zagen,” his voice displayed roundness and gorgeous legato.

  • Mozart - Così fan tutte (Guglielmo)

    Bayerische Staatsoper
    Nov 2018

    • beindruckend lässiger Eleganz vorgetragener Bariton überzeugt von Beginn an mit unglaublichem Facettenreichtum. Da entsteht eine bunte bergige Herbstlandschaft, die durch fantastisches Detailreichtum zu überzeugen weiß. Feine Verzierungen werden mit höchster Hingabe gesungen, alles wirkt dennoch aus einem Guss und mit goldenem Glanze veredelt. Toll!" The baritone's impressively casual elegance is convincing from the outset with an incredible wealth of facets. A colourful, mountainous autumn landscape is created, which impresses with its fantastic wealth of detail. Delicate ornaments are sung with the utmost dedication, yet everything seems to be cast from a single mould and refined with a golden sheen. Great!"

    • Sean Michael Plumb was a very fine Guglielmo. The voice full of youthful sheen, sung off the text, in a warm, handsome baritone. He pulled out a lovely legato in ‘il core vi dono’ and his ‘donne mie’ was sung with wit, charm as well as frustration brought out through the words.

Discography