Learn the basics of opera from professional tenor and educator, Daon Drisdom. He will discuss a variety of composers' works as well as the techniques required for such unique singing.

DAON DRISDOM, TENOR

Georgia native and graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music, tenor Daon Drisdom is praised for his rich tone and compelling stage presence. His classical credits include performances in the baritone and tenor repertoires. Portrayal’s ranging from Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute to Fritz in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz are performances to his success. He continues to perform regularly with music organizations in Boston including Odyssey Opera & Boston Modern Opera Project (B.M.O.P.) and Boston Lyric Opera as a chorister. Drisdom sang with the Boston Lyric Opera in the Pulitzer Prize winning opera Omar by Rhiannon Giddons and Michael Abels and is most recently Grammy nominated for his work as a chorister on the Odyssey Opera/B.M.O.P. recording of John Corigiliano and Mark Adamo’s The Lord of Cries. One of Drisdom’s musical passions is telling stories and giving life to words through song. Words that are the closest to his heart are art songs and spirituals in the black music repertoire. He finds joy in helping others understand the style and stories compromised in the black music repertory.

He has been a featured soloist with notable names such as John Bucchino and jazz trombonist Wycillfe Gordon, as part of Wycliffe Gordon and Friends for a holiday performance on Georgia Public Broadcasting Radio in 2016. He can be heard on Funmilayo Ngozi’s Unconstrained album as a background vocalist and as soloist on the track Faith. Drisdom also has made notable contributions with YouTube inspirational group Trey McLaughlin & the Sounds of Zamar. 

His teaching credits include being Choral Director at the Jessye Norman School of the Arts in Augusta, Georgia and many years of private voice and piano teaching. In Massachusetts he served as Music Teacher at the John F. Kennedy School in Somerville Public Schools and is currently the Director of Choirs and Boston Latin Academy in Boston Public Schools. He is also a J. P. Hunsaker soloist at the First Parish in Milton.