Baritone Corey Crider is an alumnus of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and recently returned to the company as Malatesta in Don Pasquale. Additional recent highlights include Marcello in La bohème with the Munich Philharmonic and Arizona Opera, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly with Dayton Opera, and Escamillo in Carmen with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. In the 2021-2022 season, Corey joins The Metropolitan Opera for their production of Don Carlos, and brings his Scarpia in Tosca to Gulfshore Opera. In the 2019-2020 season, Corey returned to Opera Roanoke as Tonio in Pagliacci, the Dallas Opera as Prince Affron in The Golden Cockerel and was slated to appear with Toledo Opera as Amonasro in Aida and with Manitoba Opera as the title role in Sweeney Todd, both canceled due to COVID-19. The 2018-2019 season saw him as Dancaïro in Carmen with The Dallas Opera, the Captain in Florencia en el Amazonas with Pensacola Opera, Germont in La Traviata with Opera on the James, and Lancelot in Camelot with Charlottesville Opera. Corey’s 2017-2018 season included Escamillo in Carmen with Madison Opera, Germont in La Traviata with Opera at DuPage, a return to Opera Roanoke as Marcello in La bohème, and an appearance with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra for Belshazzar’s Feast. In the 2016-2017 season, he added two important roles to his repertoire: Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff (Opera on the James) and the title role in Rigoletto (Mississippi Opera). Additionally, he sang Scarpia in Tosca with Intermountain Opera and Finger Lakes Opera, returned to Opera Roanoke to perform his acclaimed Emile DeBeque in South Pacific, and joined the Opera Company of Middlebury as Michele/Marco in Il tabarro/Gianni Schicchi. The 2015-2016 season included the reprise of his celebrated Sweeney Todd with Opera Roanoke, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly with Dayton Opera, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Sarasota Opera, Escamillo in Carmen with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, joining the Detroit Symphony as the First Nazarene in Staruss’ Salome, and Handel’s Messiah with the Jacksonville Symphony. Corey was also heard in recital in association with Dallas Opera and the Dallas Museum of Art, and debuted the role of Emile DeBeque in South Pacific with Ash Lawn Opera. In the 2014-15 season Corey debuted the title role of Sweeney Todd with Madison Opera, sang Marcello in La bohème with Opera on the James, Scarpia in Tosca with the New Philharmonic, Escamillo in La tragédie de Carmen with Opera Naples, the Sacristan in Tosca with the Detroit Symphony, and Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love with Finger Lakes Opera. In recent seasons, under the baton of the late Lorin Maazel, Corey sang the role of Bartolo in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in Beijing and Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen in the historic Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy. He was also featured as the baritone soloist in Faure’s Requiem with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, as Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Opera on the James, the title role in Don Giovanni with the Natchez Opera Festival, and made his Nashville Opera debut as Sonora in La fanciulla del West. Corey was recently heard at the Castleton Festival in the title role of Gianni Schicchi and as Marcello in La bohème, again under the baton of Maazel. For the Lyric Opera of Chicago, he has previously performed Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, and Larkens in La fanciulla del West. Also an alumnus of Florida Grand Opera’s young-artist program, Corey has been heard on their mainstage as Schaunard in La bohème and Prince Yashvin in the world premiere of Anna Karenina by David Carlson. A two-time national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a finalist in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, Corey took fourth prize in the Florida Grand Opera Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition. He is an alumnus of the Artist Diploma program at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; as well as of the University of Kentucky (M.M.) and Murray State University (B.M.).