The American heldentenor Kevin Hanek is embarking upon a career in the Wagnerian and dramatic tenor repertoire. “As Erik (in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at New York’s Bechstein Piano Centre), tenor Kevin Hanek sang eloquently, easily managing the role’s demanding declamation as well as its more tender passages.” (The New York Informer, November 15, 2008) Hanek appeared as soloist in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony this past May from the stage of the Santa Fe Opera House. He has sung Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera and Radamés in Aïda with Bulgaria’s Burgas Philharmonic Orchestra, created the role of Tom Carter in the first New York performances of composer George Quincy’s comic opera The Mummy, performed the role of the Majordomo in the New York premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s The End of a World (Das Ende einer Welt) with Encompass New Opera Theatre, and has appeared as soloist in Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Westchester Choral Society under the baton of Lyndon Woodside, in a Salzburg debut in concert with pianist Jörg Demus, and in recital with pianist Norman Shetler.

A native of Miami, Florida, Hanek received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Miami, and a master’s degree from the University of South Florida, where he was awarded the Graduate Assistantship in Opera. He pursued post-graduate studies at Vienna’s Hochschule für Musik and the Akademie Mozarteum in Salzburg, as well as additional training with Gérard Souzay, Eleanor Steber, Erik Werba, and Dalton Baldwin. He is the winner of an Emerging Artist grant from the Hillsborough County Arts Council, and performed with the Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist.