Biography

About Me

Tenor Dennis Shuman captivates audiences with his versatile, powerful voice and electric stage presence across both opera and musical theatre. Recent performances include Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd with Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera (HALO), tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Chautauqua and Columbus Symphonies, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Toledo Opera and Opera Grand Rapids.

A Mozartian tenor at heart, Dennis has performed all three of the da Ponte tenor roles—Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), and Ferrando (Così fan tutte). Equally at home in contemporary opera and musical theatre, his roles include Matthew Gurney in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline, Albert in Britten’s Albert Herring, the Tenor in Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg’s Hydrogen Jukebox, and the character roles of the Governor, Vanderdender, and Ragotski in Bernstein’s Candide.

“Tenor Dennis Shuman’s voice possesses a lyrical quality that instantly convinces one that Matthew is an ingenuous, gentle soul who is telling the truth.” – Classical-Scene.com

On the concert and recital stage, Dennis has performed the Celebrant in Bernstein’s MASS and the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion (Johannes-Passion), in collaboration with Chatham Baroque. He also appeared in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival concerts Music, She Wrote and The Rainbow Connection, honoring the work of female and LGBTQIA+ composers.

Dennis was a member of the Opera Institute at Boston University, where he studied with Dr. Lynn Eustis. He holds a Master’s degree from Loyola University New Orleans and a Bachelor’s from the University of Minnesota–Duluth. He was an apprentice artist for two seasons with both Chautauqua Opera and the Banff Centre’s Opera as Theatre Program.

Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Dennis lives with his husband and their two beloved “dog-hters.”