Imagine a 6'2" blond handsome man, who while kneeling, can look a soprano straight in the eye…then add one little word to the picture: Tenor. In a voice category with so many short and obese singers, Mark Thomsen stands tall and sings magnificently.
-- Opera Monthly

An accomplished and versatile singer, Mark Thomsen enjoys a successful career in the United States and abroad. His performance repertoire includes the history of opera, from Cavalli, Bach, and Mozart, to Puccini, Verdi, and Richard Strauss, and the premieres of operas by composers such as Dominick Argento, Leonard Bernstein, Carlyle Floyd and Lowell Liebermann.

Season 2008-2009

• September 8 – October 14 at the New York Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Thomsen will cover five performances for the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Sat, 9/27, 10/1, 10/4, 10/9, and 10/14. For more information, please see www.metoperafamily.org/metopera.
• November 2-3, Lakeland, Florida, one performance on Monday, November 3, for the Imperial Symphony Orchestra "Fall Fest" fundraiser. For more information, please see www.imperialsymphony.org/schedule.
• November 10 – January 8, New York Metropolitan Opera in the cover role of Nicias for Massenet's Thais, and in the cover role of Don Ottavio for Mozart's Don Giovanni. For more information, please see www.metoperafamily.org/metopera.
• January 10 – 24, Lakeland , Florida, for the Imperial Symphony Orchestra, one performance on Saturday, 1/ 24 in the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. For more information, please see www.imperialsymphony.org/schedule.
• February 26 – March 1, Little Rock, Arkansas, for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Tenor soloist in Beethoven's Ode to Joy . For more information, please see www.arkansassymphony.org.

• Friday, March 20, Las Vegas, Nevada, at 12:00 PM in the Lloyd George Courthouse, Mr. Thomsen performs with T4U in a Spring Fling consisting of arias, songs, duets, and trios from opera to pop. Sponsored by the City of Las Vegas , Cultural Arts.

• April 6 – 24, New York Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Thomsen will cover 4 performances on 4/13-24 for the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. For more information, please see www.metoperafamily.org/metopera.

• Saturday, May 16, Las Vegas, Nevada, Tenor soloist for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. For more information, please see www.lasvegasphilharmonic.com.

Highlights of 2007 - 2008:
Summer of 2007, Mr. Thomsen delivered stellar performances in La Traviata at the Sugar Creek Festival in Watseka, Illinois, and as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for the Emerald City Opera in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Fall brought him to Ottawa, Canada, to appear in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Opera Lyra.  Mr. Thomsen began the year 2008 with a performance as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra in Lakeland, Florida, and as Cavardossi again for the Spokane Opera in Washington in March.

Later in March 2008, Mr. Thomsen returned to beautiful Colorado, to Crested Butte and Steamboat Springs, for lively concerts featuring opera, operetta, and Broadway tunes with Robin Follman and Deb Ayers on piano. Following a stint as cover for the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail), Mr. Thomsen performed in Honegger's King David with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

Highlights of season 2006– 2007:
Mr. Thomsen was featured tenor soloist in a Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra concert production of Verdi’s Requiem. He participated in a Good Friday concert at Christ The King Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Minnesota, which included music by Haydn, Bach and Dubois. This followed his November/December performance for the Manitoba Opera production of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, singing the role of Eisenstein. www.manitobaopera.mb.ca/.

Mr. Thomsen thrilled audiences with his role of Nicias in Palm Beach Opera's production of Massanet's racy Thaïs in January of 2007 www.pbopera.org. He followed this role with a Pinkerton in the Naples Opera ( Florida ) production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly www.operanaples.com and sang his first "Duke" in Fargo-Moorhead Opera’s concert version of Verdi’s Rigoletto. www.fmopera.org.

Highlights of season 2005 – 2006:
After smoothly stepping into the role of Don José to replace their ailing tenor in Bizet’s Carmen in the fall of 2005, Mr. Thomsen returned to The Lyric Opera of Chicago to reprise his well-received Don José (see the review excerpts). Following Mr. Thomsen’s engagement in Chicago , he traveled to Charleston , SC to perform Don Ottavio in the Spoleto Festival USA production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

From Eastman to La Scala with Bernstein
A native of Minnesota, Mark Thomsen graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota and spent two years as an apprentice with the Minnesota Opera before receiving his Master's degree in Applied Voice from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. After spending three years in the Houston Opera Studio, Mark joined the ensemble, which performed Leonard Bernstein's A Quiet Place at the Kennedy Center, La Scala, and Vienna Staatsoper before recording the opera for Deutsche Grammophon.

New York City Opera Debut Artist of the Year
Mark Thomsen began his performing career in the United States under the guidance of Beverly Sills at the New York City Opera where he performed the title role of La Clemenza di Tito, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and many others, including the premiere of Argento's Casanova. At the conclusion of his first year in New York, he received the New York City Opera Debut Artist of the Year award.

Pushing the Boundaries at Santa Fe
Mr. Thomsen made his debut with Santa Fe Opera in 1987, a renown center for progressive opera, and spent several summers expanding his repetoire in roles, from Flamand in Capriccio and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte to title roles in the American Premiere of von Bose's The Sorrows of Young Werther and Siegfried Matthus's Judith. His musical flexibility and technical ability were put to good use as Henry Morosus in Die Schweigsame Frau, the Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer, in a Strauss double-bill of Friedenstag and Feuersnot, and in other exciting world premiere performances.

All-American Tenor
Mr. Thomsen has shared his vocal and acting talents in a variety of venues across the United States, with notable engagements as the title role in the American premiere of Lowell Liebermann's The Picture of Dorian Gray with Florentine Opera, Camp Williams in Cold Sassy Tree with both Austin Lyric Opera and Kansas City Opera, Lenski in Eugene Onegin with Indianapolis Opera, the title role in Werther and Jenik in The Bartered Bride with Washington Opera, Lennie in Of Mice and Men and the title role in Les contes d'Hoffmann with Edmonton Opera, and as Fitzpiers in the world premiere of Stephen Paulus' The Woodlanders. Additional companies he has performed with include the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Connecticut Opera, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Columbus, Opera Omaha, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Colorado Festival.

Vienna, Japan, France...
European engagements have included several seasons with the Vienna Volksoper where he performed leading roles in operettas and Mozart operas. He toured Japan with the Volksoper and later joined the Vienna Staatsoper as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He made his Opéra de Nantes debut as Belmonte in Die Entfürung aus dem Serail and returned in a later season as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

...and Back to Lake Wobegon
Mr. Thomsen has appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio program several times to sing lyric recital pieces and participate in comedic skits and has been involved with pre-performances of Garrison Keillor's first opera, Mr. and Mrs. Olson.

Mr. Thomsen explains, "This is a comedy that depicts a couple that have become bored with their lives and how they seek meaning in their own Midwestern way, Mrs. Olson by going to chat rooms on the Internet and hooking up with an unsavory type (a baritone) and Mr. Olson by searching for that savoir faire in his own life -- smoking a Gauloise cigarette and wearing a beret. I sang 'I always wanted to be a french lover' to the 'Habanera' from Bizet's Carmen, the 'Ode to red jello' to 'Che gelida manina' from La Boheme, two originals by Andy Stein about opera (very funny) and a beautiful romantic called 'Summer Nights'."