Magnificent tenore spinto voice - excellent actor

Derrick Alton, internationally acclaimed tenor is a native of North Carolina, where he attended Louisburg College and North Carolina School of the Arts. Mr. Alton made his New York debut with the New York Contemporary Opera singing Ned in Aaron Copeland’s Tender Land in 1988. Since that time he has appeared in a number of roles with that company and with Opera Ebony, both in New York and on tours of the United States and Europe. His London debut, in the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, was televised worldwide. When Nelson Mandela made his triumphant visit to New York, Mr. Alton was a featured performer in the service of Thanksgiving in his honor at Riverside Church, and most recently, at the request of the Archbishop, was the guest soloist at St. George’s Cathedral, Capetown, South Africa for Christmas Midnight Mass. In 2001 Mr. Alton was chosen to sing the opening recital of the LINES FESTIVAL of Culture and Art in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1996, Mr. Alton appeared with Grace Bumbry in Carnegie Hall and in a subsequent German tour that included performances in Berlin, Kassel, Hamburg, Mannheim, Dusseldorf, and Cologne. He has performed the complete works of the English composer Robert Mansell, including the world premiere of the cantata Great God of Power, which was written especially for Mr. Alton. Recently, he made his London operatic debut in Festival Hall singing Sportin’ Life in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and starred as Joe in Carmen Jones with the Capetown Opera, Capetown South Africa. He regularly performs in recital and opera regionally in America as well as throughout Europe and the Caribbean. Mr. Alton is a recipient of the Martin Kaltman Foundation Award for opera singers, the first awarded to an American tour.