Biography
American tenor Timothy Oliver began his career by earning a "fest contract" with the world famous Semperoper in Dresden, Germany. In his time there, Mr. Oliver has performed in over 40 operas with close to 45 roles in his repertoire. Such roles include the Steuermann in Wagner's "Der Fliegende Holländer," Brighella from Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos," Pedrillo from Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail," and Camille de Rosillon from Léhar's "Die Lustige Witwe." Recently, he received much acclaim for his lyric portrayal of the Einsiedler in Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s "Simplicius Simplicissimus."Mr. Oliver has made acclaimed debuts at summer festivals in Austria, Germany and Italy in the leading lyric roles of Belmonte in „Die Entführung aus dem Serail“, Tamino in "Die Zauberflöte", as well as, Nemorino in "L'Elisir d'Amore." In the summer of 2008, he made his debut at the world renowned Wagner Festival in Bayreuth as the Vierte Knappe in the new Parsifal production. He returned to Bayreuth in 2009 to reprise the role and take over the role of Ulrich Eislinger in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg." He enjoyed returning to the United States in the summer of 2010 with a debut at the prestigious Santa Fe Opera Summer Festival in the role of Monostatos in “Die Zauberflöte”.
Mr. Oliver is equally at home on the concert and recital stage. He made his debut in 2008 at the beautiful Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany under the baton of Maestro Sebastian Weigle singing the famous Dying Swan in Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” In March 2010, he was very excited to make a major leading role debut under the baton of Maestro Fabio Luisi at the Musikverein Concert Hall in Vienna, Austria singing the title role in Berlioz’s “Damnation of Faust.” He’s looking forward to working again with Maestro Luisi this coming year 2012 in Rome at the L’Accademia di Santa Cecilia and then in May at the Musikverein performing „Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln“.
The 2011-2012 season will see Mr. Oliver continuing his close relationship with the Staatsoperette Dresden where he debuted last year two featured roles in “Prinz Methusalem” and “La Perichole,” as well as, the leading role of Fritz in a new production of “La Grande Duchesse von Gérolstein.” He is also looking forward to taking on the role of the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion this coming April 2012 in Dresden.
Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, Mr. Oliver earned his Bachelor and Master's degrees from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 2001 and 2003 where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with honors. It was also during his university years that the Ohio Light Opera engaged him for multiple summers where he performed leading roles such as Captain Fitzbattleaxe in "Utopia Limited", Camille de Rosillon in "The Merry Widow", and the title role in "Robin Hood". In addition, he took part in numerous summer opera festivals including the St. Louis Opera Apprentice Program and Central City Opera where he had the honor of singing the lead roles of Larry/Matt in the famous Face on the Ballroom Floor and receiving the John Moriarty Award.