Neal Ferreira

Tenor, Opera Singer, Soloist

Praised for his "rich, powerful voice" and "bravura-filled stage presence," Neal Ferreira is a nationally recognized lyric tenor with a handsome, masculine tone quality to which he brings a cultivated vocalism and eloquent expression. Performing professionally for two decades in opera and oratorio, the tenor was the recipient of the 2012-13 Artist of the Year Award from Syracuse Opera. He has also appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Virginia Opera, Opera Colorado, American Repertory Theatre, Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Emmanuel Music, and Guerilla Opera.

Contact Neal at nealferreira@gmail.com

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Neal
Photo by Tim Gurczak Photography

Audio Samples

"Ferreira's rich, supple tenor was perfect...”
~Opera News

"a firm yet sweet tenor."
~The Boston Globe

"sang ... with an otherwordly character that befit
the voice of God.”

~Wall Street Journal

"the standout was Neal Ferreira ... Handsome and slim, he has a clear, sweet standard-order tenor voice..."
~Berkshire Fine Arts

Photos

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Performance Experience

Operatic Roles

Doctor The Voyage of Edgar Allen Poe
Odyssey Opera
*2024
Loud Stone Eurydice
Boston Lyric Opera
*2024
Foreman Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Boston Symphony Orchestra
*2024
Flavio Norma
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
*2024
Auctioneer/Taylor Omar
Boston Lyric Opera
2023
Ring Announcer Champion
Boston Lyric Opera
2022
Ein Soldat Wozzeck
Boston Symphony Orchestra
2022
Laertes Hamlet (Summer)
State Opera Ruse, Bulgaria
2021
Macheath The Beggar's Opera (Britten)
Emmanuel Music
2019
Tamino The Magic Flute
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2019

Mr. Sengupta/

Khattam-Shud
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Boston Modern Orchestra Project
2019
Master Turner Brother Nat
Asim Team Productions
2018
Parpignol La bohème
Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood
2018
Jazz Trio Tenor Trouble in Tahiti
Boston Lyric Opera
2018
Le Remendado Carmen
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2018
Giovanni d'Aire L'assedio di Calais
Odyssey Opera
2017
Jack The Importance of Being Earnest
Odyssey Opera
2017
Tierhändler Der Rosenkavalier
Boston Symphony Orchestra
2016
Pritschtisch The Merry Widow
Boston Lyric Opera
2016
Alan The Tenor's Suite
The Shakespeare Concerts
2016
Roderigo Otello
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2016
The Visitor In the Penal Colony
Boston Lyric Opera
2015
Ferdinand The Tempest
The Shakespeare Concerts
2015

Giudice/

Servitore di Amelia
Un ballo in maschera
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2015
Alfred Die Fledermaus
Syracuse Opera
2014
Charlie Gould (Orlofsky) The Polar Bat (Die Fledermaus)
Anchorage Opera
2014
Spoletta Tosca
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2014
Monostatos The Magic Flute
Boston Lyric Opera
2013
Basilio/Curzio Le nozze di Figaro
Syracuse Opera
2013
Traveler Clemency
Boston Lyric Opera
2013
Borsa Rigoletto
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2013
Dr. Blind Die Fledermaus
Virginia Opera
2012
Tancredi The Inspector
Boston Lyric Opera
2012
Bardolfo Falstaff
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
2012
Goro Madama Butterfly
Opera on the James
2011
Sheldon Segal Later The Same Evening
The Glimmerglass Festival
2011
Charlie Davenport (cover) Annie Get Your Gun
The Glimmerglass Festival
2011
Snout A Midsummer Night's Dream
Boston Lyric Opera
2011
Spalanzani/Andres Les contes d'Hoffman
Florida Grand Opera
2011
Spoletta Tosca
Boston Lyric Opera
2010
Gran Sacerdote Idomeneo, re di Creta
Boston Lyric Opera
2010
Tanzmeister/Brighella (cover) Ariadne auf Naxos
Boston Lyric Opera
2010
Ein Offizier Ariadne auf Naxos
Boston Lyric Opera
2010
Spalanzani/Andres Les contes d’Hoffmann
Opera Colorado
2009
Monostatos The Magic Flute
Boston Lyric Opera for Young Audiences
2009
Spalanzani/Andres Les contes d’Hoffmann
Boston Lyric Opera
2008
Assistant Heart of a Dog
Guerilla Opera
2007

Solo with Ensemble

Requiem, W.A. Mozart
Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, New World Chorale
2023
Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, W.A. Mozart
Salisbury Singers
2021
Te Deum, Anton Bruckner
Commonwealth Chorale
2020
Opera and Broadway's Greatest Hits
Symphony New Hampshire
2019
The Spectre's Bride, Antonín Dvořák
Harvard Summer Chorus
2019
Symphony No. 9, Ludwig van Beethoven
Wellesley Symphony Orchestra
2019
Messiah, G.F. Handel
Assabet Valley Mastersingers
2017
Lobgesang, Felix Mendelssohn
Chorus North Shore
2017
Summer's Distillation, Joseph Summer
The Shakespeare Concerts
2017
Requiem, W.A. Mozart
Chorus North Shore
2016
Petite Messe Solennelle, Gioacchino Rossini
Emmanuel Music
2015
Around the World in Eighty Minutes
Boston Lyric Opera and Boston Landmarks Orchestra
2012
Carmina Burana, Carl Orff
Syracuse Opera
2012
King David, Arthur Honegger
Newburyport Choral Society
2011
Christmas Oratorio, Camille Saint-Saëns
Newburyport Choral Society
2010
Mass No. 2 in G Major, Franz Shubert
Newburyport Choral Society
2010
Carmina Burana, Carl Orff
Newburyport Choral Society
2009
Mass in B minor, J.S. Bach
Newburyport Choral Society
2009
The Creation, Joseph Haydn
First Religious Society, Newburyport, MA
2008
Magnificat, J.S. Bach
First Religious Society, Newburyport, MA
2007
Stabat Mater, Antonin Dvořak
First Religious Society, Newburyport, MA
2007

Biography

Praised for his "rich, powerful voice" and "bravura-filled stage presence," Neal Ferreira is a nationally recognized lyric tenor with a handsome, masculine tone quality to which he brings a cultivated vocalism and eloquent expression. Dubbed a “Boston mainstay” by the Boston Globe, he recently appeared with Boston Lyric Opera as Auctioneer/Taylor in the New England premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize winning opera, Omar. The tenor regularly appears with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and returns in 2024 for performances of Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall, under the baton of Maestro Andris Nelsons.

Ferreira’s 2023-24 engagements include the role of Flavio in Norma with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as a return to Boston Lyric Opera as Loud Stone in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, conducted by the composer. In spring 2024, he will sing the Doctor in Dominick Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allen Poe with Odyssey Opera.

A much sought-after interpreter of new music, Mr. Ferreira made his European debut in 2021, creating the role of Leartes in the world premiere of Joseph Summer's operatic Hamlet with State Opera Rousse, Bulgaria. His successful performance as the Visitor in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony was called “poignant” by the Wall Street Journal and “perfect” by Opera News. The tenor can be heard on the premiere recordings of numerous operas, including Charles Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (BMOP/Sound), James MacMillan’s Clemency (BIS), Joseph Summer’s The Tempest (Albany), and Mario Castenuovo Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest (Odyssey Opera).

Among his 2020-21 performances cancelled due to the pandemic were engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Odyssey Opera, Symphony New Hampshire, the Orchestra of Indian Hill, the Salisbury Singers, the Commonwealth Chorale, and Chorus North Shore (MA). In the 2019-20 season, Ferreira starred in multiple leading roles, including Tamino in The Magic Flute with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, as well as Macheath in Benjamin Britten's version of The Beggar's Opera with Emmanuel Music.

Mr. Ferreira made his Tanglewood debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2018 in a concert performance of La bohème under the baton of Maestro Andris Nelsons. He first performed with the BSO in the 2016-17 season as Ein Tierhändler in Der Rosenkavalier with Renée Fleming and Susan Graham. In October 2018, Ferreira created the role of Master Turner in the world premiere of Brother Nat, a new opera based on Nat Turner’s historic slave insurrection of 1831, with book/lyrics by Jabari Asim and Liana Asim and music by Damien Sneed and Allyssa Jones. Later that season he returned to Odyssey Opera singing the role of Giovanni D’Aire in Donizetti’s rarely heard L’assedio di Calais.

The tenor received the 2013 Artist of the Year Award from Syracuse Opera, where he last performed the role of Alfred in Die Fledermaus to much acclaim. He was also awarded the 2009 Stephen Shrestinian Award for Excellence from Boston Lyric Opera, with whom he has performed numerous roles over the last fifteen seasons, including Tancredi in John Musto's The Inspector, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, the Gran Sacerdote in Mozart’s Idomeneo, re di Creta, and Snout in A Midsummer Night's Dream, to name a few.

Mr. Ferreira made his Opera Colorado debut performing Spalanzani and Andres in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, roles he first performed with Boston Lyric Opera under the direction of Maestro Keith Lockhart and reprised with the Florida Grand Opera. Other appearances have included Sheldon Segal in Later the Same Evening and Charlie Davenport (cover) in Annie Get Your Gun with Deborah Voigt at the Glimmerglass Festival.

As an oratorio soloist, Mr. Ferreira has performed the role of Uriel in Haydn’s The Creation, as well as noted performances in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Dvořák's The Spectre's Bride and Stabat Mater, Bach’s Mass in B minor and Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle throughout the New England area. He is a regular guest soloist at his alma mater, Providence College, where he most recently appeared in Handel’s Messiah and Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ with the Providence College Orchestra and Chorus.

Mr. Ferreira is a student of the world-renowned tenor, Frank Lopardo. He holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory, graduating with Academic Honors in 2005. There he studied with international opera singer Patricia Craig, and he sang the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute as part of New England Conservatory Outreach Opera’s inaugural production.

As a recipient of the Roberts Music Scholarship for musical aptitude and achievement, Ferreira completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Providence College in 2002, graduating cum laude. While at Providence College, he studied voice with David Harper and appeared in many stage productions with both the Music and Theater Departments. The tenor has returned several times as a guest artist to perform in recital as well as teach masterclasses to undergraduate students.

In addition to performing, Ferreira is an avid voice pedagogue and has served as an Assistant Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music since 2021.

Awards

  • 2012-13 Artist of the Year Award
    Syracuse Opera
  • 2011-12 Artist of the Year Award
    Syracuse Opera
  • 2009 Stephen Shrestinian Award for Excellence
    Boston Lyric Opera

Education

  • Emerging Artist Boston Lyric Opera, 2011-12
  • Young Artist The Glimmerglass Festival, 2011
  • Master of Music in Vocal Performance
    Academic Honors, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA, 2005
  • Bachelor of Arts in Music, Minor in Black Studies
    Cum Laude, Providence College, Providence, RI, 2002
  • Principal Teachers
    Frank Lopardo, Penelope Bitzas, Patricia Craig, David Harper
  • Coaches
    Mikhail Hallak, James Myers, David Moody, Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek, Terry Decima
  • Directors
    Francesca Zambello, Anne Bogart, Leon Major, Renaud Doucet
  • Conductors
    Andris Nelsons, David Angus, Gary Thor Wedow, Douglas Kinney Frost