BIOGRAPHY
“Indian-American tenor ALOK KUMAR is described by The Guardian as “a knockout… technically assured, his singing resonates with the raw pathos of a man on the edge – and his acting… equally compelling;” by Bachtrack as “a commanding presence with a depth and resounding resonance, exhilarating as he faced up Carmen at the end” and The Spectator remarks “Kumar’s tenor is certainly ardent. There’s something in the way he socks those top notes towards the gods…”
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Fresh off debuts in Austria, Canada and Australia, and returns to Scotland, Hong Kong and the United States, ALOK KUMAR makes an unprecedented 2025 concert appearance in his native India. Opening Portland Opera’s 2025-2026 season, he reprises the role of RODOLFO in La bohème following his Metropolitan Opera return as CAESAR* in John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra, and concerts with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9.
In 2024 MR. KUMAR made several house debuts, including those with Vancouver Opera as DON JOSÉ in Carmen, Volksoper Wien as LAZARUS in Adams’s Gospel According to the Other Mary, State Opera South Australia in Adelaide as EDGARDO in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Fort Worth Opera as RODOLFO in La bohème. In the titled roles of Gounod's FAUST and Massenet's WERTHER he was featured with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera following his highly acclaimed 2023 Scottish Opera debut and four-city tour as DON JOSÉ in Carmen. That same year, he returned to Hong Kong as PERCY in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, and made his Portland Opera debut in Sankaram’s Thumbprint.
“Of his 2024 Australian debut as EDGARDO in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Glam Adelaide raves: “And then there was Alok Kumar as Edgardo, another extraordinary voice from the world stage” “[Kumar] has the ability to hold you in the palm of his hand…” “... the range of emotional access in [Kumar’s] vocal work goes the full gamut” “[Kumar’s] vocal dexterity is a masterclass for the tenor voice.” ”
In concert, he appears with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra (2025) for Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, following most recent invitations from each San Diego Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra and The New Choral Society for Verdi’s Requiem, Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, and Mozart’s Requiem.
ALOK KUMAR has collaborated with conductors Marek Janowski, Sir Simon Rattle, Susanna Mälkki, Stéphane Denève, Marco Armiliato, James Conlon, Bertrand de Billy, Lothar Koenigs, Carlo Rizzi, Riccardo Frizza, Kensho Watanabe, Valerio Galli, Joseph Rescigno, Ramón Tebar, Lio Kuokman and Maria Badstue, and in productions led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Valery Gergiev and John Adams. Most recently he was invited to sing by Rafael Payare and Franz Welser-Möst, and in 2024, appeared with Miguel Harth Bedoya, Les Dala, Nicole Paiement, Stuart Stratford, Dane Lam and Lucia Marin.
Internationally renowned venues MR. KUMAR has been featured as guest artist with orchestra, include 2023 appearances with Scottish Opera: at Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, Theatre Royal in Glasgow, His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen and Eden Court in Inverness; following invitations by the Royal Opera House to be featured with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017: at Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Curve Theater in Leister, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, and a return in 2020 to perform at Royal Festival Hall. He has also appeared at Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Spoleto Festival in Spoleto, Le Domaine Forget Int’l Music Festival in Quebec, and Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico.
He has made a series of monumental débuts in the United Kingdom, beginning with an invitation by the Royal Opera House to have MR. KUMAR create the leading tenor role, CHYAVANA, for the 2017 world premiere of Ravi Shankar’s only opera, Sukanya. Also, in collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Singers, and 59 Productions, Sukanya was taken on a 4-city tour. KUMAR reappeared with the LPO at Royal Festival Hall in 2020, when the complete opera was revived as part of the Shankar Centennial Celebration, in anticipation of the BBC album release, in which he is featured.
In 2019-2020, MR. KUMAR debuted with Opera Omaha as PINKERTON in Madama Butterfly, and returned to The Metropolitan Opera stage for role debuts as THE ITALIAN SINGER in Der Rosenkavalier and DER STEUERMAN in Der fliegende Holländer. Amongst cancellations of the 2020 pandemic, KUMAR was to have company debuts with Opera Hong Kong as DON JOSÉ in Carmen, Virginia Opera as RADAMÈS in Aida, and in concert was to perform Verdi’s Requiem in New York, and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 with Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Since making his 2018 stage debut, The Metropolitan Opera has regularly invited ALOK KUMAR to join their subsequent seasons. In 2025 he returned to the Met Opera for Antony and Cleopatra (CAESAR*), following lead role undertakings in productions of The Hours (LOUIS*), The Rake’s Progress (TOM RAKEWELL*), and Gianni Schicchi (RINUCCIO*). In other roles, he has also been seen and heard across the globe in Met - Live in HD broadcasts of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (2018), Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (2021), and Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos (2022).
Past appearances include those with Michigan Opera Theater, Florida Grand Opera and Palm Beach Opera as DON JOSÉ in Carmen and the DUCA DI MANTOVA in Rigoletto. Other leading roles performed around the country include ALFREDO in La Traviata, MACDUFF in Macbeth, and as CALAF in Turandot. In recent seasons he has also sung with Los Angeles Opera in La Traviata, subsequently invited for lead roles in Moses and The Count of Monte Cristo. Additionally, MR. KUMAR was invited to partake in the creation of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel with Lincoln Center and appeared in Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco serial web opera entitled “Star Cross’d.”
ALOK KUMAR is an alumnus of The Peabody Conservatory of Music, Rice University - Shepherd School of Music, Santa Fe Opera - Apprentice Program, Boston University - Opera Institute, and Suffolk Law School in MA.
When he is not on the road performing, ALOK KUMAR maintains a private law practice in Los Angeles, California - where he resides with his wife and daughter.
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