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The American baritone, Wayne Arthur Paul, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston (2007-2011); and his Masters degree in Vocal Arts from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York (September 2018-May 2021).
Wayne Arthur has been active as an opera singer since January 2007. He is a versatile artist who imbues his work with a heartfelt intelligence that is well-suited to many genres. He recently portrayed the role of Escamillo in Rest in Pieces a devised opera directed by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. He made his debut in the ensemble of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019-2020 season production of Porgy and Bess. The Live in HD broadcast of this production was seen in theaters globally and is featured on PBS’ Great Performances. In November 2019, he debuted the role of Polypheme in George Frideric Handel's Acis and Galatea with Concerts in the Village in Kinderhook, New York. He has been a frequent soloist in Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, W.A. Mozart's Requiem, and G.F. Handel's Messiah in the New York Tri-State area. During the winter of 2019 he was a soloist in Margaret Bonds’ Ballad of a Brown King and J.S. Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243) with the Grace Chorale of Brooklyn.
Wayne Arthur is passionate about performing the works of living composers, particularly those who historically have been underrepresented in the classical canon. He appeared with the Face the Music Ensemble at National Sawdust in Courtney Bryan's Yet Unheard with vocalist Helga Davis. Yet Unheard is a work for chamber orchestra and voice inspired by the tragic death of Sandra Bland. He performed the New York City premiere of Michael-Thomas Foumai’s The Burning Heart Anthology as part of the First Songs project at National Sawdust led by soprano Dawn Upshaw. During the summer of 2019, he was an Eva & Marc Stern Fellow at SongFest at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. As part of a culminating recital at Zipper Hall, he performed a set of Shawn Okpebholo’s re-imaginings of Negro Spirituals with pianist Javier Arrebola. In 2018 he was a featured soloist in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang’s site-specific Mile-Long Opera, which premiered along the length of New York City’s Highline Park. In 2016, he had the honor of being a soloist in soprano Kathleen Battle's recital, Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey, in her return to the Metropolitan Opera stage. In 2015, he was in the ensemble of the LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects’ co-production of Song from the Uproar by Missy Mazzoli, an multimedia opera about explorer Isabelle Eberhardt.
Wayne Arthur is also interested in the intersection between music and visual arts. He has appeared as a performer in multimedia artist Derrick Adams' ON at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works. He has been a featured soloist with the PYER MOSS New York Fashion Week shows, presented at venues like Brooklyn's historic Kings Theatre in collaboration with artists such as Erykah Badu, Raphael Saadiq, Casey Gerald, and Nouveau Classical Project. He currently lives in New York City, New York. |
