Zachary Averyt

Affiliate Artist in Voice and Pedagogy

Tenor Zachary Averyt made his operatic debut in 2001 as Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors and has continued to delight audiences ever since. He appears frequently with some of Houston’s most notable ensembles, and was recently hailed by the Houston Chronicle as a “strong, clear and bright tenor,” praising him for the “warmth and ardor of his singing.”

Averyt’s recent operatic credits have included principal roles in Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito, Don Giovanni, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Anna Bolena, Manon, and The Crucible. His diverse repertoire includes operas by Handel, Weill, Bellini, Charpentier, Offenbach, Rossini, Puccini, Cimarosa, and Strauss. An avid concert singer, Dr. Averyt has explored a range of styles, singing mass settings by Charpentier, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Stravinsky, Howard Goodall, and Robert Ray. Other oratorio credits include Carissimi’s Jephte, Handel’s Susanna and Messiah, Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives, Haydn’s The Creation and The Seasons, Rachmaninoff’s Vespers and Orff’s Carmina Burana. Some recent highlights include a tour of the Mediterranean with Garrison Keillor and the cast of the hit American radio program A Prairie Home Companion, and world premieres of major works by composers Kyle Kindred (Canciones de Alfaro, 2016) and Karim al-Zand (The Leader; 2020 - premiere, 2022 - recorded and released on Navona Records).

Concert performances have included Benjamin Britten’s Serenades for Tenor and Horn and Les Illuminations, which garnered praise for “the warmth and power of his voice” and “a notable stage presence with solid bearing and intense focus” (BroadwayWorld.com). Such positive reception of his interpretations of Britten has put the composer’s solo and chamber works at the center of Averyt’s extensive repertoire. Other solo and chamber recital ventures have explored various English art songs, folk songs, and hymnodys; the five Canticles of Benjamin Britten; and the intersection of art and poetry within song cycles by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Dr. Averyt holds degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He teaches applied voice and all levels of vocal pedagogy at the Moores School, and also serves on the faculty of the Vocal Institute at the Texas Music Festival. In addition to his private teaching in Houston, Dr. Averyt has also served on the faculties of The American Academy of the Arts and in the Interdisciplinary Arts program at the University of Houston.

B.M., 2008 - Rice University

M.M., 2011 - University of Houston

D.M.A., 2023 - University of Houston