About
Acknowledged for his “vocal allure” and “fiery declamation” (San Diego Story), Eric Laine, tenor, has gained recognition as an innovative artist both on stage and in recital. Recently, he made his European debut as Il Podestà in La finata giardiniera with the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, a role that he then reprised with Opera Neo in San Diego, CA. On the operatic stage, Eric has sung Joante in the American premiere of Apollo y Dafne, Alfred and Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, Jay in The Stranger’s Tale, Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Vašek in The Bartered Bride, Henrik in A Little Night Music, the title role in Albert Herring, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Tantale in La descente d’Orphée aux enfers, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Noël in Le testament de la tante Caroline, Apollo in the American premiere of Coronide, and Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, appearing with companies such as Orchestra of New Spain, First Coast Opera, Moores Opera Center, American Baroque Opera Co., Opera in the Heights, and Red River Lyric Opera, among others. During the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons, Eric was a regular ensemble member with Houston Grand Opera.
As a concert soloist, Eric has been featured in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Messiah, Alexander’s Feast, Missa in Angustiis, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G Major, Pergolesi’s Miserere, and J.S. Bach’s Christ lag in Todesbanden, to name a few, having sung with Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Harmonia Stellarum Houston, Symphony of the Hills, Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra, Houston Masterworks Chorus, Tyler Civic Chorale, and Houston Symphony. He is an avid promoter of art song, often creating themed interdisciplinary programs of chamber music and visual art. Most recently, a portfolio of materials from Eric’s recital “In Pursuit of Self” was selected as the graduate winner of the 2020 University of North Texas Pi Kappa Lambda Scholarship Competition. Previously, he was awarded a travel grant to serve as an Art of Song fellow at Toronto Summer Music in 2019.
Eric recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance and pedagogy at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. Additionally, he holds a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Music in music education from the University of Houston, specializing in both voice and classical saxophone. Eric is a trained vocologist through the Utah Center for Vocology in Salt Lake City, UT, where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Ingo Titze. He is a published author in the Journal of Singing, and his research interests include Latin American art song repertoire, vocal agility, and the intersection of exercise science and vocal pedagogy. Eric currently serves on the voice faculty of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro as Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice.
