Merritt, Chris (Allan)

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Merritt, Chris (Allan)

Merritt, Chris (Allan), American tenor; b. Oklahoma City, Sept. 27, 1952. Following studies at Oklahoma City Univ. and the Santa Fe Opera, he made his formal operatic debut in 1978 as Rossini’s Lindoro at the Salzburg Landestheater. In 1981 he made his first appearance at the N.Y.C. Opera as Bellini’s Arturo, and from 1981 to 1984 he sang at the Augsburg Opera. He made his debut at the Paris Opéra as Aaron in Mosè in Egitto in 1983. Following his debut at London’s Covent Garden as James in La donna del Lago in 1985, he appeared as Rossini’s Arnoldo at Milan’s La Scala in 1988. He sang Gluck’s Admète at the Lyric Opera in Chicago in 1990. In 1995 he sang the role of Aron in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron in Amsterdam. He sang in the premiere of Henze’s Venus und Adonis in Munich in 1997. As a concert artist, Merritt has appeared with many major orchs. While he has been most notably successful in operas by Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti, he has also been admired for his portrayals of Idomeneo, Aeneas, and Rodolfo.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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