Vickers made his official opera debut while he was still a studio artist, stepping in as Arrigo in Verdi's La battaglia di Legnano after the first scene.^[5] In the same year, he also attracted attention in the role of Laerte in Franco Faccio's Amleto with Opera Delaware,^[6] in the titlerole in L'amico Fritz with Boston Midsummer Opera,^[7] and in his debut^[8] as Don José in Carmen with Opera Western Reserve.^[9]

In 2017, his portrayal of Avito in Italo Montemezzi's rarely performed opera L'amore dei tre re garnered attention to the spinto qualities of his voice.^[10] He made guest appearances with numerous other role debuts, including Sam Polk in Susannah at Opera Roanoke, Luigi in Il tabarro with the Opera Company of Middlebury, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Charlottesville Opera, Arnold in Guillaume Tell at Opera Southwest, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Western Reserve.^[2] Renato des Grieux in Manon Lescaut at Sarasota Opera and B. F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Opera Memphis followed in 2018.^[2]

Vickers, who had specialised in Italian operas in the USA,^[2] made his debut in Italy in French,^[11] performing as Don José in the French opera Carmen at the Macerata Opera Festival in the Sferisterio di Macerata arena in the summer of 2019.^[12] The performance also marked the Italian debuts of Irene Roberts in the title role and David Bižić as Escamillo, and was aired live on Rai 3 radio.^[13] Soon after, Vickers was able to showcase his Italian skills in Italy as a last-minute jump in for the Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto.^[14] Returned to the US, he debuted as Canio in Pagliacci with the Savannah Opera and as Cavaradossi in Tosca with the Virginia Opera.^[2] He won a grant at the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition in the same year.^[15]

In January 2020, Vickers sang the role of the Prince Dimitri in Alfano's Risurrezione in Rosetta Cucchi's staging at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival,^[16] which was released on DVD.^[17]

Other planned performances planned for the year that became the first of the COVID-19 pandemic were canceled,^[2] including a production of Carmen by Vicker's alma mater, the Penn State School of Music.^[18] The 50th anniversary celebration of AIMS in Graz, Austria, at which he had been invited to perform, was also canceled due to COVID-19.^[19] However, Vickers sang in the pandemic-friendly open-air concerts Drive-Through Arias and Opera Jukebox by Opera Delaware, which was celebrating its 75th anniversary.^[20]^[21]

In 2021, Vickers made his house and role debut as Malcolm in David McVicar's staging of Verdi's Macbeth at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, conducted by Enrique Mazzola, and starring Sondra Radvanovsky as Lady Macbeth.^[22] In 2022, he made his role debut as Foresto in Attila at Sarasota Opera, as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur at Opera Baltimore, and as Romeo in Riccardo Zandonai's Giulietta e Romeo with New York's Teatro Grattacielo.^[2]^[23] In November 2022, he sang the role of Charlie Silver in the world premiere of Craig Carnahan's Requiem for Frankie Silver, with a libretto by Craig Fields.^[24] The production was staged and conducted by Carnahan, and featured soprano Lauren Senden in the title role.^[25] In 2023, Vickers sang the role of Pollione in Norma with Opera Tampa,^[2] and the role of Alfredo in La traviata in a joint production by Opera Delaware and Opera Baltimore.^[26]

Vickers moved to Germany to join the soloists' ensemble at the Staatstheater Darmstadt in 2023. Once more he made his role debut, house debut and country debut in French, in the title role of Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann,^[27] conducted by Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) Daniel Cohen.^[28] His first Italian language role in Darmstadt was Alfredo in La traviata, he also sang this role as a guest at the Theater Osnabrück that same season.^[29] In 2024, Vickers sang Aegisth in Elektra in a staging by Karsten Wiegand, the intendant of Staatstheater Darmstadt.^[29] He also made his house debuts at Staatstheater Meiningen in the title role in Don Carlos in French in Achim Freyer's staging, conducted by GMD Killian Farrell,^[30] and as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Landestheater Eisenach.^[29] The following year, in 2025, he debuted in the same role at the Stadttheater Heilbronn^[29] and the Theater Koblenz.^[31] Also in 2025, Vickers sang Melot in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, in the staging by Eva-Maria Höckmayr, with Magdalena Anna Hofmann as Isolde and Heiko Börner as Tristan.^[32] Vickers sang Masaniello in Auber's La muette de Portici in Paul Georg Dittrich's staging, with Megan Marie Hart as Elvire and Ricardo Garcia as Alfonso.^[33] He sang the Drum Major in Berg's Wozzeck in Wiegand's staging, with Oliver Zwarg in the title role, and GMD Cohen conducting.^[34]

Life and education

Career

Repertoire (selection)

Recordings

Video

Audio

Awards and recognition

References

External links