Ryan Speedo Green facts for kids
Ryan Speedo Green (born April 1, 1986) is an American bass-baritone opera singer. A bass-baritone is a male singer who can sing both deep bass notes and higher baritone notes. Opera is a type of play where the story is told mostly through singing.
Life and Career
Ryan Speedo Green was born in Suffolk, Virginia. He grew up in a challenging environment. His middle name, Speedo, comes from his father. His father, a bodybuilder, named him after a sports brand. Ryan has embraced this unique name. When he was younger, Ryan faced some difficult times. He was sent to a special place for young people who needed help. This experience helped him turn his life around.
Green studied music at college. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Hartt School of Music. He also earned a Master of Music degree at Florida State University. He won several singing contests, showing his great talent.
In March 2011, Ryan was one of five winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. This is a very important competition for opera singers. After he won, a newspaper article was written about him in The New York Times. A book publisher, HarperCollins, became interested in his life story. His biography, Sing for Your Life: A Story of Race, Music, and Family, was published in October 2016.
In 2014, Ryan received the George London Foundation Award. He also won first prize from the Gerda Lissner Foundation. He was a finalist in the Palm Beach Opera's singing competition. He also finished the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. This program helps young singers become professional opera stars.
Green has performed in many famous operas. He sang the role of the Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Juilliard School in New York. He also performed this role at Opera Colorado in Denver. In Denver, he was a Resident Artist from 2010 to 2011. There, he also sang as Colline in La bohème and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola. In 2012, he sang Colline again for Central City Opera. In 2014, he sang Zuniga in Carmen for the Wolf Trap Opera Company.
Ryan made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012–13. He sang as Mandarin in Puccini's Turandot. He then sang as a Grail Knight in Parsifal. The next year, he was the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and the Jailer in Tosca. In 2014–15, he sang Rambo in The Death of Klinghoffer at the Met. Green returned to the Met in 2016 as Colline. In 2018, he sang Oroe in Semiramide.
In 2014, Green became a member of the Vienna State Opera in Austria. This is a very famous opera house. His roles there included Angelotti in Tosca and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. He also sang Basilio in The Barber of Seville and a Jew in Salome. Other roles were Fouquier-Tinville in Andrea Chénier and a Monk in Don Carlos. He also performed as Titurel in Parsifal, the King in Aida, Timur in Turandot, and Varlaam in Boris Godunov. In 2016, he was a guest artist in Il trovatore as Ferrando for Opéra de Lille. Later that year, Green performed at the Salzburg Festival in Die Liebe der Danae.
Ryan Speedo Green also sings in concerts. He has performed in Handel's Messiah. He has also sung in Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass. He performed in Verdi's Messa da Requiem. He has sung in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 several times. His first performance of this symphony was in 2014 with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Honors and Awards
- 2011 - Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions - winner
- 2011 - Sara Tucker Study Grant
- 2014 - George London Foundation Award
- 2014 - Gerda Lissner Foundation - First Prize
- 2014 - Leonore Annenberg Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts Grant
- 2014 - Richard Tucker Career Grant
