Praised as “darkest-sounding Hagen” (iHearVoices), American bass David Leigh is emerging as a commanding presence across the opera world.

Upcoming engagements include his debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as John Claggart Billy Budd, followed by performances as Varlaam Boris Godunov at Opéra de Lyon, Daland Der fliegende Holländer at Staatsoper Hamburg.

In concert, he’s featured as bass soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem tour at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, and the Gasteig Kulturzentrum, Munich, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Wiener Konzerthaus.

His recent engagements include Rocco Fidelio with the Washington National Opera, a debut at the Opéra national de Paris as Virgilio Il viaggio di Dante, and as Fafner and Hagen in Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen at the Opernhaus Zürich. He portrayed the Commendatore Don Giovanni with the Canadian Opera Company, and Sarastro Die Zauberflöte at the Ravinia Festival.

His career highlights include Colline La bohème at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, Commendatore Don Giovanni at the Hyōgo Performing Arts Center and Aix-en-Provence, appearances as König Marke Tristan und Isolde in Santa Fe Opera, and Filippo II Don Carlo at Dallas Opera.

As a member of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program, he starred in Cendrillon, and performed a joint recital with Emily D’Angelo at the Park Avenue Armory. Other roles include Fafner in Cincinnati Opera, Vodník Rusalka at the San Francisco Opera, Prince Gremin Eugene Onegin at the Seattle Opera, John Claggart Billy Budd, Sparafucile Rigoletto at the Kentucky Opera, Gurnemanz Parsifal in the Canadian Opera Company - among others.

As a concert soloist, he has appeared in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mozart’s Requiem, and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with major orchestras, including in Paris, Munich, Montreal, Memphis, Dallas, and Philadelphia, and in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with Fabio Luisi.