Tenor, Dylan Elza, a native of Dallas, Texas has most recently performed as a Tyler Young Artist with Opera on the James in Lynchburg, Virginia, covering the role of Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and performing the role of Dandini in their outreach production of the Three Billy Goat’s Gruff. He will next be seen as the Production Tenor in Rockwall Summer Musical’s production of Singing in the Rain, as well as the Officer in the Lakes Area Music Festival’s production of Ariadne auf Naxos this summer. Last summer, Dylan was a Studio Artist with Central City Opera performing the roles of Enoch Snow Jr. and Officer Timony in Carousel and Borsa in the Family Performance of Rigoletto. Prior to this summer, Mr. Elza joined the Studio Artist program of Florida Grand Opera for their 2020-2021 season, which was truncated due to the pandemic. He performed the role of Mr. Xoloti/Eduardo Jr. in their outreach production of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World, alongside several concert series throughout the season.
One of Dylan’s most significant past engagements include two seasons with Virginia Opera, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, as a Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist. Roles with Virginia Opera include: Messenger in Aida, Thug #1 in Il Postino, Dave in Breaking, and F.B.I. Agent in An American Dream. Covers with Virginia Opera include: Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Pablo Neruda in Il Postino, Spoletta in Tosca, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, and he also performed Nemorino in Virginia Opera's 2019 fall outreach production.
Mr. Elza has performed with companies in Santa Fe, Boston, and the Dallas Fort-Worth area, during which he made his European debut singing Pâris in La belle Hélène. Additional performed roles include: Lenski in Eugene Onegin, Father Grenville in Dead Man Walking, Fenton in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor with the Boston Conservatory Opera, Cop in Cradle Will Rock with Opera Saratoga, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore with the Seagle Music Colony, and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with the University of Texas at Arlington. Dylan is also featured on Spotify and iTunes in Opera Saratoga's CD recording of Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock as the Cop.
Other covered roles include: Don José in La Tragédie de Carmen with Charlottesville Opera (2019), Dr. Caius in Falstaff with Opera Saratoga (2017), and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the University of Texas at Arlington (2014). Opera programs both professional and training include: Florida Grand Opera (2020-2021), Central City Opera (2021), Virginia Opera (2018-2019 and 2019-2020), Charlottesville Opera (2019), Opera Saratoga (2017), the Young Artist Vocal Academy at Houston Grand Opera (2016), Seagle Music Colony (2015 and 2016), Fort Worth Opera Chorus (2014-2016), and the Franco-American Vocal Academy (2014), and he has performed with Performance Santa Fe for two consecutive years (2016 and 2017) for their winter outreach program.
Mr. Elza graduated from the Boston Conservatory with his master's degree in Opera Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom in 2018. He received his B.M., magna cum laude, in Voice Performance from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2016.