Mark S. Doss Biography Bass-Baritone

Testimonial

In Haydn's Creation with The Virginia Symphony:
"Doss is an extraordinary singer who made every syllable of the text compelling. His deep bass sound brought out the power of the message when he shouted, 'By heaven's fire the sky is inflamed'."

The National Post

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Grammy Award winner, Mark S. Doss, began the current season as Escamillo in Portland Opera’s Carmen, going on to perform the role of Méphistophélès in a revival of Faust with Oper Frankfurt, Jochanaan in Salome - simultaneously - with Florentine Opera (Milwaukee, WI) and Teatro Regio di Torino, Italy, and Amonasro in Aida as his Pittsburgh Opera debut.

Prominent performances of the 06/07, 05/06 and 04/05 seasons include Méphistophélès with Portland Opera, the bass soloist in Messiah at the Civic Opera House in Chicago, Jochanaan (Salome) with La Scala in Milan, Italy (his 5th role there within a 2½ year period), Thoas in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride with the San Francisco Opera, Alidoro in La Cenerentola at both La Scala and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Amonasro (Aida) at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany, Scarpia in Tosca with Oper Frankfurt, Santa Fe Opera’s 50th Anniversary Gala Concert, and Argante in Teatro alla Scala's Rinaldo (Händel).

Upcoming performances include the role of Charrington in Maazel’s “1984” wth Teatro alla Scala, Diomede in Troilus and Cressida with the Opera Teatre of St. Louis, and the role of Jaroslav Prus - again at La Scala - in The Makropulos Case by Janacek.

During the 03/04 season, Mr. Doss made his Royal Opera debut as Amonasro in Aida and also debuted at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in Peter Grimes. He followed, to great acclaim, with the title role in Boito's Mefistofele with Oper Frankfurt, afterwards making his debut at Teatro alla Scala as Escamillo in Carmen. In concert, he appeared with the Seattle Symphony as the bass soloist in Bach's Magnificat, and was heard with the Baltimore Symphony as the bass-baritone soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony under the direction of Bobby McFerrin.

Highlights of the 02/03 and 01/02 seasons included Zaccaria in Nabucco at Oper Frankfurt, the title role in Händel's Giulio Cesare with Cleveland Opera, Ormonte in Händel's Partenope with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with L'Opéra Théâtre de Nice, Ferrando in Il Trovatore with the San Francisco Opera, King Philip in Don Carlos with Boston Lyric Opera, Escamillo in Carmen 2, Le Retour at the Teatro Regio in Turin, concluding with Escamillo in the original Carmen with the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He additionally sang Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Cathedral Choral Society at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and performed Mustafa in L'Italiana in Algeri with the Santa Fe Opera.

Other concert appearances include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Théâtre de la Monnaie, an all-Gershwin concert in Istanbul, Turkey; Mozart arias and Copland songs with the Alabama Symphony, Händel's Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony, and Haydn's The Creation with the Cathedral Choral Society under the direction of Leonard Slatkin at the National Cathedral. His May of 2003 concert/recital with the Singers' Club of Cleveland was a great critical success.

Mr. Doss, a native of Cleveland, Ohio and graduate of Indiana University, is a 1993 Grammy Award winner for his participation in the recording of Händel's Semele conducted by John Nelson on the Deutsche Grammophon label, a winner of the National Institute for Music Theatre's George London Opera Prize, a First Prize winner of the International Verdi Competition in Busseto, Italy and a Finalist Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions.

Additional noteworthy performances:
Riolobo in Daniel Catán's Florencia en al Amazonas (recorded on the Albany Record label) with Houston Grand Opera, Cinque in the world premiere of Anthony Davis' Amistad at Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as Don Basilio at Lyric in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Four Villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Michigan Opera Theatre, Zaccaria in Nabucco at the Cincinnati Opera, performing both Tonio and Alfio in the same performance of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci at Hawaii Opera Theater, the title role in Verdi's Attila with Washington Concert Opera, Escamillo at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Amonasro in the Houston Grand Opera's Aida, Scarpia and Figaro in Cleveland Opera's productions of Tosca and Le Nozze di Figaro, the High Priest in Samson et Dalila with the Cincinnati Opera and Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino opposite Carlo Bergonzi in Busseto, Italy.