Neil Shicoff, internationally recognized as one of the pre-eminent tenors of his generation, is one of the most vocally exciting, thrilling and sought-after tenors of our time!  He has performed at the world’s most renowned opera houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala Milano, Paris Opéra Garnier and Bastille, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper München, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre de Genève, De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Zurich Opera, Teatro Del Liceo Barcelona, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Teatro Real Madrid, Arena di Verona, Macerata, the Salzburg Festival and with the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 

Besides his great stage successes, he has sung with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein, the Berliner Philharmoniker under Claudio Abbado, the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seji Ozawa and collaborated with renowned conductors, such as Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, James Levine, Charles Dutoit, Antonio Pappano, Riccardo Chailly and Kent Nagano, just to name a few.

Known for his great stage personality, Neil Shicoff has additionally worked with outstanding directors, such as Franco Zeffirelli, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Elijah Moshinsky, Götz Friedrich, Robert Carsen, Andrei Serban, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Werner Schröder, Günter Krämer, Lina Wertmüller, Willy Decker, Jürgen Flimm, Harold Prince and David McVicar.

Just to name a few highlights of his remarkable career of the past years:

New productions of PETER GRIMES, BILLY BUDD, LA JUIVE, MANON LESCAUT and IDOMENEO at the Vienna State Opera, HOFFMANNS ERZÄHLUNGEN and TOSCA at Teatro alla Scala, HOFFMANN and DON CARLO at the Salzburg Festival, ten new productions at the Metropolitan Opera New York, at the Opéra Bastille Paris HOFFMANNS ERZÄHLUNGEN and LA JUIVE and at the Zurich Opera LA JUIVE, DON CARLO and IL TROVATORE, BALLO IN MASCHERA, CARMEN and TOSCA an der Lyric Opera in Chicago.  He was, additionally, highly acclaimed in Tokyo for his performances of MASKENBALL, DON CARLOS and TOSCA.

He is a Grammy nominated recording artist with an extensive discography of both solo and full-length opera recordings and DVD’s, including complete opera DVD performances of La Bohème, La Traviata, Hoffmann and La Juive. His discography includes Lensky / EUGEN ONEGIN for Deutsche Grammophon and Philips, HOFFMANNS ERZÄHLUNGEN and IL TABARRO for EMI, CARMEN, RIGOLETTO and AROLDO for Philips, LA TRAVIATA, LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR for Teldec, LA JUIVE, BILLY BUDD for BMG and ORFEO released one solo CD with arias. Additionally, released by Deutsche Grammophone, is a documentary on “The Making of La Juive” directed by Paula Fisher.  Included in this DVD is a music video of the famous aria “Rachel du Seigneur” directed by Academy Award Winner Sidney Lumet.

His numerous honors include being honored with the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France. In addition, he is an Ehrenmitglied (Honorary Member), as well as, Kammersänger of the Vienna Staatsoper, the highest honors bestowed upon a civilian from not only the city of Vienna, Austria but from the country of Austria.  In 2011, he received Russia’s highest singing and acting honor with the Golden Mask award for his performance of Eleazar in La Juive. In June 2015, he received the Austrian MusikTheaterPreis for his life’s work.  Additionally, he is an Honorary Board Member of the Jussi Bjoerling Society and The Jewish Museum of Vienna. Between 2015 – 2017, he was also named Chief of the Opera of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

In recent years, he has become known as a celebrated teacher, sharing his gifts and knowledge with the next generation. He is currently a recurring guest teacher with the Glyndebourne Festival, the Berlin Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Dutch National Opera and the Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artist Program.  Additionally, he has been a frequent guest teacher with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Merola program of the San Francisco Opera, the Bolshoi Opera of Moscow, the Mikhailovsky Theater of St. Petersburg, the Canadian Opera Company, the Santa Fe Opera, the Dresden Semperoper, the Novosibirsk Opera Theatre, the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, Poland, the Oslo Opera, the Sochi Winter Arts Festival/Academy and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.  His foray into Asia occurred in May 2015 with the Central Conservatory in Beijing, where he was honored with the title of Recurring Guest Professor.

He has been an adjudicator for the Richard Tucker Foundation, the Grand Prix de L’Opera in Bucharest, the Marcello Viotti Competition, the Moniuszko Competition, the 2018 Francisco Viñas Competition, as well as, the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia.  In addition, he maintains a busy and active private studio.

June 2023