
Photo Credit: David Bachman
Bio
Cited as “impressive” in The Wall Street Journal, and praised in Opera News for his "warm, hearty bass-baritone," Evan Lazdowski is a recent graduate of the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. His productions with the company have included Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro and Antonio), Ariodante (Il Re), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Don Basilio), Iphigénie en Tauride (Thoas), Proving Up (Sodbuster), and La traviata (Marchese d'Obigny).
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In the 2024-25 season, Evan will be a 2025 Apprentice Artist at the Santa Fe Opera; there, he will be featured in a series of Apprentice Artist events, and will sing in La bohème (Sergeant) and Rigoletto (Usher). Other season highlights include Mozart’s Requiem (Bass Soloist) with the Yellow Springs Community Orchestra & Chorus in Dayton, Ohio. Evan was a semifinalist in the Marcella Sembrich International Vocal Competition, and an Encouragement Winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation’s Lieder/Song Competition. In September, he was a featured guest artist at the Metropolitan Opera Club.
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In the 2023-24 season, Evan was a Winner of the DC-Maryland-Virginia District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He was also a guest artist at Duquesne University for "Chopin/Schumann on the Bluff," a recital in which he sang selections from Chopin's 17 Polish Songs; he performed the program alongside members of the Duquesne voice and music faculties. Other events included Evan's return to the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, with whom he performed Verdi's Requiem (Bass Soloist). In the summer of 2024, he was a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, where he was seen in Elizabeth Cree (Mr. Lister/Karl Marx/Voiceover/Solomon Weil/Witness #8) and the world premiere of Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children (Rumpelstiltskin). Evan was also seen in the “Horizons” Glimmerglass Concert with mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught.
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Evan's 2022-23 engagements included his debut with Berkshire Opera Festival, where he joined the cast of La bohème (Colline); and a Studio Artist residency at Chautauqua Opera, where performances included Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd, cover; Chorus) and La Tragédie de Carmen (Zuniga/Garcia). He also appeared with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's Mass in C Major (Bass Soloist).​​
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2021-22 highlights included Evan's debuts at Madison Square Garden, singing the national anthem for the New York Rangers; and at Alice Tully Hall, singing selections from Songs of Travel for Juilliard's Wednesdays at One series. He was a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Concert of Arias and the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition. Operatic performances included The Magic Flute (Papageno, cover; Speaker) at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gaddes Festival Artist, Don Giovanni (Il Commendatore) at the Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist, and The Rake's Progress (Nick Shadow) with Juilliard Opera.​
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Other full operatic performance credits include I due Figaro (Figaro), I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Capellio), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theseus), Les pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad), Gianni Schicchi (the Notary), and Così fan tutte (Guglielmo). Evan has covered roles such as Falstaff in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, Il Sacerdote di Minerva in Teseo, and Zuniga in Carmen.
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Evan's concert credits include the bass solos in Carissimi's Jephte (conducted by Kent Tritle) and Charpentier's Le Reniement de St. Pierre (conducted by Bryan Zaros), with both performances taking place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He was also the bass solo cover for Pulcinella, performed by the Juilliard Orchestra and conducted by Barbara Hannigan. Evan has been seen in recital with Mikael Eliasen, and sang Ibert's Quatre chansons de Don Quichotte in Natalia Katyukova's 2021 Juilliard Liederabend.
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Evan was a 2021 Upper Midwest Regionals Encouragement Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Other accolades include the Richard Gaddes Career Award, the Shirley Rabb Winston Scholarship (Top Prize), 2nd place in the Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Voice Competition, the Manhattan School of Music Hugh Ross Commencement Award, and 1st place at the New Hampshire NATS Art Song Festival. He is a proud YoungArts Winner and alum.
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In the realm of musical theatre, Evan has appeared at the Jerome Robbins Theatre in New York City, as a part of the 2017 YoungArts New York Showcase. In said showcase, he performed songs and scenes from South Pacific (Emile) under the direction of Tony-nominated actor Michael McElroy. At Manhattan School of Music, Evan performed scenes and songs from shows such as I Do! I Do! (Michael) under the direction of Carolyn Marlow.
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He has performed in regional theatre productions of musicals/plays such as Show Boat (Chorus), Evita (Soloist), Annie (voice-over for The Radio Announcers), Addams Family (Mal Beineke, cover), and Twelfth Night (Valentine). In 2016, for a production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (William Barfée), he was a finalist for Best Supporting Actor at the New Hampshire Theatre Awards.
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Evan has provided voice-overs for student projects at the NYU Maurice Kanbar Institute for Film & Television. Theses credits include documentary narration (Mooseback) and a lead role in an audio drama (Submerged). Both of these projects were conceptualized and directed by Simon Geisker, a fellow YoungArts winner.
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Evan holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music. He has received additional training at Houston Grand Opera's Young Artists Vocal Academy, and has sung in master classes taught by Denyce Graves, Craig Rutenberg, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Joan Lader, Sierra Boggess, Tony Yazbeck, and Santino Fontana.