Travon D. Walker, tenor, is a current second-year young artist at The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center with Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season at Lyric Opera of Chicago, he will appear as Borsa in Rigoletto, 1st Prisoner in Fidelio, the Son in Blue, and Parpignol in La Bohème. He also sings Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Psalm 23 from Omar with North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and joins Opera Philadelphia as Valcour in L’Amant anonyme. This summer as a Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, he sings Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites and Remendado in Carmen. Last season he joined Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, and Craig Terry in recital and participated in Joyce DiDonato’s acclaimed masterclass series at Carnegie Hall as well as the Britten Pears Young Artist Program in Aldeburgh, England. He was awarded Best Vocal Artist Award at the American Opera Society of Chicago and was also the recipient of a Luminarts Fellowship.

In 2023, Mr. Walker participated in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. Other engagements included Handel’s Messiah with the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra and his company debut with Houston Grand Opera as The Navigator in Jeremy Howard Beck’s Another City (world premiere). At Lyric Opera of Chicago, Walker sang scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos (Scaramuccio), La Périchole (Piquillo), and Falstaff (Bardolfo). He also received an Encouragement Award from the Kansas City District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and the Cesare Saneramo Award at the 2023 Opera Index Vocal Competition. Mr. Walker was a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera in 2022, where he sang Elder Gleaton in Susannah.

A native of Hinesville, GA, Mr. Walker graduated with a master’s degree from Rice University, where he performed the role of Sam Kaplan in their production of Street Scene by Kurt Weill and appeared in scenes from Così fan tutte, The Turn of the Screw, Lucia di Lammermoor, and West Side Story. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he was heard in the roles of The Reader in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd (canceled due to Covid-19), and Dan Leno in the virtual production of Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree.