Damien Geter – Bass-Baritone, Conductor, Composer & MD

Damien grew up with his mom singing around the house, and Diana Ross and The Pointer Sisters on the record player, with a bit of Bach and Tchaikovsky thrown in for good measure. Although he went on to study music education and conducting, he didn’t really think of performance as a viable career, and became a high school teacher – and stayed teaching for over 15 years. However, he was always composing and performing on the side, and when he was cast as the Undertaker in The Met’s production of Porgy and Bess, Damien realised it was time he gave the opera world his full attention. His composition work includes deeply moving chamber, vocal, and orchestral works, and his work often infuses classical music with styles from the black diaspora to create music that furthers the cause for social justice He was recently commissioned by Washington National Opera alongside the Librettist Lila Palmer for their opera American Apollo, a story forged at the crossroads of celebrity, class, race, and power in America. Alongside his thriving career as a singer and composer, Damien has recently been announced as the interim Music Director at Portland Opera, where he’s currently in rehearsals for the role of Angelotti in Tosca. Find out more about Damien on his website here Find out more about Portland Opera here and his new role here