From: Claremont, California. LA Opera: Guccio in Gianni Schicchi (2008, debut); 11 roles to date including Monterone in Rigoletto (2018); Father in Hansel and Gretel (2018); Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (2022); Leporello in Don Giovanni (2023). He is a 2021 recipient of the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award.
Bass-baritone Craig Colclough initially studied as a cellist and eventually attended the University of Redlands in California. Before training with Wolf Trap Opera and Florida Grand Opera, he began his career appearing in several roles with LA Opera. The company awarded him the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award during the 2020/21 season, celebrating artists with deep connections to LA Opera.
The 2022/23 season will feature a prominent return to Los Angeles, as he sings the title role in The Marriage of Figaro for the company’s new production, directed by filmmaker James Gray. He will return to the Atlanta Opera to make his role debut as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and reprise his acclaimed Monterone in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera.
Following his notable role debut as Alberich in Das Rheingold with the Tiroler Festspiele Erl during the summer of 2021, Mr. Colclough began the 2021/22 season with his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago, singing the title role in Macbeth in a new production directed by Sir David McVicar and conducted by Lyric’s Music Director, Enrique Mazzola. Elsewhere during the season, he made his Bayerische Staatsoper debut as Macbeth, and returned to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Telramund in David Alden’s production of Lohengrin, and to the Metropolitan Opera, to sing Monterone in Barlett Sher’s new production of Rigoletto. During the summer of 2022, he made a thrilling role debut with Opera Saratoga as Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, appearing opposite Broadway great Carolee Carmelo.
His recent engagements include his Metropolitan Opera debut in the fall of 2019, as the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth; Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, Scarpia in Tosca and Jack Rance in The Girl of the Golden West with English National Opera, Scarpia for his debut with Canadian Opera Company, Peter in Hansel and Gretel for LA Opera and the title role in Don Pasquale with Minnesota Opera and Arizona Opera. A house favorite with Belgium’s Opera Vlaanderen, he has appeared with the company as Telramund, Kurwenal, Macbeth and the title role of Falstaff, in a production directed by Oscar-winning actor Christoph Waltz.
Known for his versatility, Craig Colclough has appeared as Peter Vogel in Korngold's Der Ring des Polykrates with the Dallas Opera; the Storyteller in John Adams’ A Flowering Tree with Opera Queensland in Australia; Hare in the world premiere of Burke and Hare with Boston Lyric Opera; Pistola in Falstaff with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Fra Melitone in La Forza del Destino with Oper Frankfurt and Doristo in L’arbore di Diana with Minnesota Opera.
He has collaborated with acclaimed conductor Gustavo Dudamel for performances of Timur in Turandot with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Additional credits include the Israeli Symphony Orchestra, California Philharmonic, Capitol Records, Abbey Road Studios and the soundtrack of the film Rolled.
Learn more at CraigColclough.com.
