Tenor Eric Ferring Will Join American Guild of Musical Artists's Senior Staff

On March 1, 2024, Tenor Eric Ferring will shift his career focus to artist advocacy, taking on the full-time role of Business Representative at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the labor union of singers, dancers, and staging staff in opera, ballet and concert dance, and concert choral performance in the US. He will work as part of AGMA's senior staff on a number of efforts – among them, executing national initiatives, organizing new campaigns, and supporting contract negotiations with many of the opera houses where Ferring is recognized from his roles onstage. He will maintain his longtime team of managers at Fletcher Artist Management and Askonas Holt, who have carried their dedication in service to his performance career into steadfast support of his expanded work in artist advocacy.

“This artist advocacy work is such an integral part of who I am,” says Ferring. “I'm thrilled to be joining AGMA, and in doing so, aligning my personal values with the work-life balance I've been craving. I'm honored to be joining the team to create the just and thriving industry of tomorrow.”

With expertise that ranges from early Bel Canto repertoire and the music of Handel and Mozart to the origination of contemporary operatic roles, Ferring has sung principal roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and LA Opera, among others, and has released solo vocal albums with Delos Music and Lexicon Classics. Ferring is also the Executive Director of the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) and is Project Curator of Lexicon Classics.

Upon entering this new role, Ferring will no longer maintain a full slate of roles across leading international opera houses. Detailing his goals for the next phase of his career, Ferring envisions a new lifestyle bridging his artist advocacy work at AGMA with time spent at home with his husband and great dane, Huey – plus a schedule of shorter period operas, concerts, recitals, and recordings. In the past several years, he says, the pandemic, his marriage, the death of his father, the purchase of a home, and the adoption of a dog have left him with a new understanding of what he wants his life to look like. “Kids aren't too far away either!” he adds.

“These are the questions that I have mulled over these past few months,” he says. “How can I create a work-life balance that feels healthy, fulfilling, and in line with my values and priorities? Are those values and priorities even the same as they were a few years ago? ... The beautiful thing about this career, and life in general, is that there are so many different ways to live your mission.”

Even as an in-demand opera performer with engagements worldwide, Ferring has been an engaged member of AGMA since 2015. In his early roles with the union, he served as a young artist representative at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Santa Fe Opera and Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. From there, he joined AGMA's Midwest Area Committee as a Soloist Representative and was subsequently elected to the organization's Board of Governors as a Midwest Soloist Governor. In July 2023, he was elected AGMA's first-ever Soloists Vice President. He formally resigned from the Board in February 2024. 

“For four years, we worked intensely and tirelessly for our artists, for ourselves – for we are our union after all,” says Ferring. “Working with our incredible leadership and passionate, dedicated staff, we've expanded our organizing efforts, improved working conditions and pay, and continue to engage our members through thoughtful member education. This has empowered and inspired artists to join negotiating committees, run for the Board of Governors, create Slack channels, Facebook groups, union caucuses, and so much more. All with the same goal: Make life better for artists.” Read Ferring's personal essay, On Arriving, on the goals and life experiences that led to this new role.

In the first of his performances since taking up his full-time position at AGMA, Ferring has announced three upcoming engagements for spring and summer 2024. On Friday, March 22, 2024 at 7:30pm, he sings the role of Confidente d'Erode in Haymarket Opera's production of La decollazione di San Giovanni Battista, its first performance in over 300 years. On April 16 and 18, 2024 at 8:00pm, and April 20, 2024 at 6:00pm, he performs as Don Ottavio in Opéra de Rouen Normandie's production of Don Giovanni. He will also be honored at the Seagle Festival Gala, to be held on July 13, 2024 at 6:00pm. In addition, Ferring will soon record an album of new commissions by composer Evan Snyder, serving as a follow-up to Ferring's critically-acclaimed albums No Choice but Love (Lexicon Classics) and We have tomorrow (Delos).

About Eric Ferring

With a voice called “simply a remarkable instrument” (Textura), tenor Eric Ferring has made his mark in leading opera houses worldwide, earning a 2022 Emmy Award for his performance in Chicago Lyric Opera's production of Pagliacci. His 2023-2024 season includes a return to Opéra de Rouen and debuts with Opéra de Lille, Haymarket Opera, the Dubuque Symphony and the Insula Orchestra at La Seine Musicale. He also performs in a recital for Florentine Opera and takes part in a world tour of Rodelinda with The English Concert.

In 2023, Ferring released his second album, We have tomorrow (Delos), with longtime duo partner Madeline Slettedahl (piano) and French string quartet Quatuor Agate. Showcasing “[Ferring's] imaginative approach to repertoire” (The Rehearsal Studio), the album was lauded as “simple, beautiful, and moving” (Cultural Attaché). His first album with Slettedahl, No Choice but Love: Songs of the LGBTQ+ Community, was released in 2022 on Lexicon Classics. The album was lauded as “a revelatory and empowering release” (Textura) and admired for packing “an emotional punch in vivid vocal and pianistic colours” (BBC Music Magazine).

Among his recent season highlights, Ferring made his much anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2021-2022 season, singing Pong in Turandot. He would follow with Met Opera roles as Tamino in The Magic Flute, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor and a Royal Herald in Don Carlos, also covering Grimoaldo in Rodelinda. Ferring made his Santa Fe Opera debut singing Fenton in Sir David McVicar's new production of Falstaff, as well as his Spoleto Festival (USA) debut in Beethoven's 9th Symphony. During the 2022-2023 season, he made debuts with the Opéra de Paris as Lurcanio in Ariodante and the Opéra national du Rhin as Tamino, as well as a return to Opéra de Rouen.

Ferring's numerous awards include top prizes in competitions including the George London Foundation for Singers, Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Voice Competition, American Opera Society of Chicago, the National Society of Arts and Letters and the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, as well as grants and awards from the Richard Tucker Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Santa Fe Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. 

A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Ferring graduated from Drake University with his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and from The Boston Conservatory with his Master of Music in Opera Performance. He is a graduate of the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center and the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. He is also the Project Curator for Lexicon Classics and the Executive Director of the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC). For more information, visit www.ericferring.com or @ericferring on Instagram.

Photo Credit: Gillian Riesen