2011 has marked baritone Quinn Kelsey’s 20th year in opera, having begun in 1991 as a chorus member with the Hawaii Opera Theatre. For the Hawaii native, those 20 years have taken him many places and have put him on many different stages in the U.S. and abroad.

Kelsey’s list of programs and study include the Chautauqua Institute with Marlena Malas, San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program under Sherry Greenwald and Mark Morash, and three years at Chicago’s Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, now known as the Ryan Opera Center. As well, Kelsey was privileged to be accepted to the roster of the Marilyn Horne Foundation for two seasons.

The baritone's recent concert work includes Massenet’s THAÏS with the Edinburgh International Festival and maestro Sir Andrew Davis. Upcoming concert projects include the Fauré REQUIEM with the San Diego Symphony.

In 2011, Kelsey was proud to make his role and company debut as Rigoletto with Der Norske Opera in Oslo, Norway in the spring, as well as a return to the Metropolitan Opera for the role of Monterone in same opera. Last Fall, the Canadian Opera Company welcomed Kelsey to its stage at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts for a company debut as Rigoletto, a role he shared with colleague Lester Lynch.

Other recent engagements include a last-minute addition to the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR as Enrico, and then a company debut with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the same role in late November. In 2012, the baritone will make a much-anticipated company debut with Dresden’s Semperoper alongside wife and soprano Marjorie Owens in the role of Count Di Luna in Verdi’s IL TROVATORE. He then continues with Verdi’s AÏDA with the Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Vancouver Opera in British Columbia, as well as a role debut with the San Francisco Opera as Ezio in Verdi’s ATTILA.