Tenor Russell Thomas grew up in Miami but moved to Atlanta in 2008 as his operatic career was beginning. The following year, he sang the minor role of Steersman in Atlanta Opera’s The Flying Dutchman as a replacement for a singer who had died. As his career began to flourish, he sang regularly with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, including as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in 2011. In 2014, the ASO made him its first artist-in-residence.
In 2017, Thomas sang his first Otello with the ASO, and he was quickly propelled into the rare realm of dramatic spinto tenors. His ringing, clarion voice is ideal for some of Verdi’s greatest roles, but he retains the high range and flexibility to sing more lyric roles such as Rodolfo in La Boheme. Thomas’ career includes roles at major houses across the United States and Europe.
In December, Thomas starred in Montgomery and the Blacknificent 7, a concert of works by Black composers at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In January, he sang his first Parsifal at Houston Grand Opera.
ArtsATL interviewed Thomas on a busy day in February — he’d flown to Washington D.C., from his teaching job as a voice professor at Indiana University in Bloomington, and, later that day, he would return to Chicago for rehearsing as Radames in Aida at Lyric Opera.
ArtsATL: You lead a peripatetic life! Are you able to spend much time in Atlanta?
Thomas: Atlanta is home — it’s where I go to recharge. My son, who is 9, lives there in my house with my mom. Last fall I was there a lot, but, during these really busy spells, my mom puts my son on a plane, and we spend a weekend or a week together. Back in 2007, I bought a townhouse in South Fulton. I love the community, the proximity to the airport and the fact that Atlanta is so affordable compared to somewhere like New York.
ArtsATL: You’ve become one of the most in-demand tenors in the world, especially for the dramatic Italian roles. What are your thoughts about that?
Thomas: I understand Verdi’s vocal writing and I get it — something about me connects to it in a very natural way. For example, the score for Don Alvaro [in La forza del destino] has all these “Ps” [for piano] but no one observes them: They just barrel through. I like to find those moments in an opera when I can really be sweet, so the impact of the forte moments is greater.
ArtsATL: I attended your Houston Parsifal a few weeks ago, and it was a big success. You seem to know your voice really well: Will you be moving more into Wagner?
Thomas: I never wanted to sing Parsifal. I had no interest in Wagner other than Tannhäuser. I finally got a Tannhäuser role in Houston, but they had to postpone it, and they switched to Parsifal. I’d turned down the role in important theaters, but I had the space held on the calendar, and I said, “Why not try it?” I had thought it was too low for me, but, when I started singing it, I realized it wasn’t too hard to maintain the beauty — not to sound forced — in the lower register.
ArtsATL: You’ve talked about how being Black has made your career more difficult. How have you dealt with that?
Thomas: My way of overcoming racism was to be the most prepared person in the room and to be so solid technically that I had more hits than misses. I always faced it head-on. And I’ve tried to help others. I’ve always mentored singers — everything from paying for voice lessons to, in one case, paying the rent for a young lady. I’ve done that privately for a decade.
Now, in my role as the artist-in-residence at Los Angeles Opera, I can help more formally with the company’s backing. I’ve started a training program for singers from historic Black colleges and universities and from underserved communities. I also started the Black Leadership Arts Collective together with singers like Lawrence Brownlee and Morris Robinson.
ArtsATL: You’ve been very open about being a child of rape. How has that affected your art?
Thomas: The discussion of it has made me a more honest performer. I had a very fraught relationship with my mother as a kid, and I didn’t know why until I was 17 and someone told me. I realized that I was a constant reminder of that trauma. In Southern families, we don’t go to counseling — we pray about it. So she never got the help she needed. I felt a sense of shame, but I started opening up about it as I got older, and my career started flourishing.
I’d been very closed off about my sexuality as well, and, when I started to be honest about these things, my performance improved. I did an interview for Opera News, and I told the woman that I was a gay Black Republican. They printed that, and it was a big deal, but I got much more backlash about being a Republican than about being gay. I’ve always wanted to be an artist who is not just one thing: Black or gay or conservative or even Italianate.
ArtsATL: Your career is on an upward trajectory, and you’re moving into new roles. What’s your ultimate goal?
Thomas: I’m not one of those singers who wants to sing until I’m 70 like Domingo. I can’t do it. My dream has been to run an opera company.
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James L. Paulk is a longtime classical music writer for such publications as ArtsATL, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Musical America. He is also a former state senator.
