Craig Irvin

Craig Irvin is an American operatic baritone. Irvin did his undergraduate study at the Simpson College, in Indianola Iowa, before completing his graduate work at The University of Tennessee. During his graduate studies, he performed with the Knoxville Opera as Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and as a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in many leading opera houses both nationally and internationally, including premiering the role of Lieutenant Horstmayer in Kevin Puts and Minnesota Opera’s acclaimed and Pulitzer Prize winning Silent Night “I’ve had the new-opera experience that no one gets” Irvin is quoted to say by Opera News, in singing the same role multiple times.

Irvin began his career at Orlando Opera in the 2006 season, and continued the following season as a main stage artist. While in Orlando, Irvin also performed the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast at Walt Disney World, completing over 700 performances. “I got to be onstage, in front of thousands of people, five days a week, for almost two years,” Irvin says. “And that is not an experience you get - in America - as an opera singer!”

Irvin spent 2008 in residence with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. He returned for a second season in 2009-2010. While there he portrayed a number of roles including Zuniga in Carmen, Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, the title role in The Mikado, and Bartolo in Le Nozze Di Figaro, among others.