Craig Verm
Praised for his “arrestingly vibrant” and “robust” baritone, Craig Verm has brought his riveting dramatic portrayals to stages around the world. In the current season, Verm joins the Fresno Philharmonic for their “Home for the Holidays” concert, the Sacramento Choral Society for the Dvořák Requiem, and Wichita Grand Opera as Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West.
In the 2024-25 season, Verm joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for the first time for Die Zauberflöte. He also appeared in the title role of Don Giovanni in Kristine McIntyre’s production at Opera Omaha.
Highlights of his 2023-24 season include a house debut with Florida Grand Opera as Marcello in La bohème. In 2022-23, Verm sang Don Giovanni with the Charleston Opera Theatre, appeared as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony for their Holiday Pops Concert, performed the role of Ping in Turandot with Opera Colorado, and reprised the role of Doug Hansen in Joby Talbot’s Everest, a role he created at the Dallas Opera, at the Barbican Centre with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In the 2021-2022 season, following a number of COVID-19 cancellations, Mr. Verm made a return to the stage in the title role of Don Giovanni with San Antonio Opera, as well as a return to Madison Opera for the role of Jupiter in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld.
In the 2019-2020 season, Verm continued his long-standing relationship with Pittsburgh Opera, opening their season as Don Giovanni, followed by performances of Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas. Previously with Pittsburgh Opera, he has sung the lead baritone role of Tom Joad in Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, Zurga in Les pêcheur de perles, Papageno, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Ping, Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, the Novice’s Friend in Billy Budd, Angelotti in Tosca as well as Guglielmo in student performances of Così fan tutte.
In 2017, he received high praise for his performances of the title role in Billy Budd for Des Moines Metro Opera. John van Rhein of the Chicago Tribune said, “The strong baritone voice, strapping physique and winning stage presence of Craig Verm created a sympathetic Billy” and Opera Today said Verm “was every moment the star vocal and theatrical presence that galvanized the performance.”
Other notable performances include a memorable house debut as a last-minute substitute in the title role of Don Giovanni for The Dallas Opera; Albert in Massenet’s Werther with Lyric Opera of Chicago (also a house debut); Schaunard in La bohème with Opera Philadelphia; Hermann in Les contes d’Hofmann with Santa Fe Opera; Ned Keene in Peter Grimes and Mercutio with Des Moines Metro Opera; Marcello, Minskman in Dove’s Flight, and Ping with Austin Lyric Opera; Papageno, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, and Adonis in Venus and Adonis with Florentine Opera; Marcello and Zurga with Nashville Opera; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Lyrique-en-Mer/Festival de Belle-Île; Count Almaviva and Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh; and the title role of Eugene Onegin, Guglielmo, and the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen with Aspen Opera Theater.
Verm has made international debuts on stages including Teatro Municipal de Santiago as Escamillo in Carmen followed by a return as Billy Budd; Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse as Sid in Albert Herring; Nationale Reisopera as Ramiro in L’heure espagnole; and Seiji Ozawa’s Ongaku-juku Festival as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.
Frequently sought after for new works, Mr. Verm created the roles of Doug Hansen in Judy Talbot’s Everest at The Dallas Opera and Astolfo in Lewis Spratlan’s Life is a Dream at Santa Fe Opera. He joined Opera Philadelphia for War Stories, a production which pairs Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda with Lembit Beecher’s I have no stories to tell you, and has sung the title role of Elmer Gantry with Florentine Opera, George in Of Mice and Men at Tulsa Opera, and Joseph Pitt in Peter Eötvös’ Angels in America with Fort Worth Opera.
He has also joined major symphony orchestras for concert performances of opera in roles such as Angelotti in Tosca, Marullo in Rigoletto, and the Mandarin in Turandot (all with the Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Fidelio with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.
Equally adept within the realm of oratorio, his other concert appearances encompass performances of Glass’ the CIVIL warS with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Pittsburgh Symphony; Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra; Gounod’s Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cécile with Les Escales Musicales d’Evian; Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Alexandria Symphony; William Schuman’s cantata Casey at the Bat with the Reno Philharmonic; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Boston Youth Symphony; Handel’s Messiah with the Rhode Island Philharmonic; Bach’s Mass in B minor at Portugal’s Aviero Music Festival; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 as a guest artist at Brown University; Faure’s Requiem with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony; Schubert’s Mass in G and Rutter’s Mass of the Children with the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale; Haydn’s Creation with the Robert Page Festival Singers at the Virginia Arts Festival as well as on tour in Vienna and Budapest; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble; and performances of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. He has also presented solo recitals under the auspices of The Dallas Opera, the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and West Liberty University.
He received his Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and graduated cum laude from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He was also a 2006 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is a former member of the young artist programs of Santa Fe Opera and Cincinnati Opera..
