Baritone Marcus DeLoach has been hailed by Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times as “a fine baritone who puts words across with clarity and naturalness.” A leading performer of contemporary vocal music today, he has established himself in the areas of opera, concert, and cross-over.
Following his Opera Philadelphia debut as Bill Owens in the East Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain in 2016, DeLoach received critical acclaim for his creation of the roles of Senator Joseph McCarthy in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers at Cincinnati Opera and the Minister in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia. He reprised both roles for their New York premieres at the PROTOTYPE Festival in 2017 and 2018, and went on to make his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in Fellow Travelers in the spring of 2018.
DeLoach was hailed as “powerfully convincing” in his Opera Ireland (Dublin) debut as Joseph De Rocher in Dead Man Walking in 2007 and made his debut at Seattle Opera as Schaunard in La bohème earlier that same year. In 2009, he received critical acclaim for his debut at Teatro Comunale di Bolzano (Italy) as Jean in Philippe Boesmans’ Julie. As a principal artist of New York City Opera from 2000-2006 he sang the roles of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Satyr and Cithéron in Platée, Slim in Of Mice and Men, Don Alvaro in Il viaggio a Reims, Schaunard in La bohème, and many others. DeLoach has also appeared in principal roles with American Opera Projects, Arizona Opera, Bard Summerscape Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Kentucky Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Nashville Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Syracuse Opera, Tulsa Opera, Utah Opera, Wichita Grand Opera, and others.
He has performed with conductors Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Kristjan Järvi, Steuart Bedford, John Mauceri, Emmanuel Villaume, John DeMain, Vjekoslav Sutej, Gerard Schwartz, Bruno Ferrandis, and George Manahan, and has appeared in concert with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra, Die Münchner Philharmoniker, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Musikfest Bremen, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and numerous other American orchestras.
In 1997, DeLoach was unanimously voted the first-place winner of London’s inaugural Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. Of his singing, Hilary Finch of The London Times wrote, “A well- groomed voice, a flair for programme shaping, a fervent desire to communicate, and, above all, that elusive fusion of instinct and understanding which sparks a quality of imagination transcending mere accomplishment.” He has also appeared regularly in recital with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and The Marilyn Horne Foundation.
With a deep commitment to the creation and promotion of modern opera DeLoach has created principal roles in the world premieres of Spears’ Fellow Travelers, Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves, Wiesman’s/ Hoiby’s Darkling, Beeferman’s The Rat Land, Drattell’s Lilith and Marina: A Captive Spirit, and Schoenfield’s The Merchant and the Pauper. DeLoach has also recorded several CDs of modern operatic works including Spears’ Fellow Travelers, Scott Wheeler’s The Construction of Boston, and “Scenes from Jewish Operas 2” with Gerard Schwartz and the Seattle Symphony.
In 2004, he joined the acclaimed rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra for their rock opera Christmas Eve and Other Stories in a national tour, which included Madison Square Garden and the Fleet Center, performing for an estimated audience of a quarter million.
DeLoach holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Voice Performance from The Juilliard School and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He has also attended The Britten-Pears School, New England Conservatory, and The Music Academy of the West. The Opera Index, Albanese- Puccini, Rosa Ponselle, Liederkranz, and George London Foundations, the Young Concert Artists International, The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Metropolitan Opera National Council, and The Gaddes Fund have all honored him for his outstanding achievements and artistry.