Anthony Roth Costanzo

Anthony Roth Costanzo (born 8 May 1982) is an American countertenor and opera director. He began his career in musical theater at the age of 11. Costanzo is a graduate of Princeton University and of the Manhattan School of Music. In 2012, he won first place at the Operalia competition. In 2009, he was a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has been an actor in film and a producer and curator. He is the designated general director and president of Opera Philadelphia, where he has instituted a flexible ticket pricing policy.

Costanzo grew up in Durham, North Carolina. Both of Costanzo's parents were professors of psychology at Duke University. His mother was Hungarian-Jewish, and his father Italian.

Costanzo became active in the arts at a young age. He performed on Broadway and in Broadway national tours including A Christmas Carol, The Sound of Music, and Falsettos. He sang backup for Michael Jackson and the Olsen Twins, as well as a duet with Deborah Gibson. He began his opera career while still a teenager, performing the role of Miles in The Turn of the Screw. Costanzo also performed with Luciano Pavarotti in the Opera Extravaganza production by the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

Costanzo graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University in 2004 with a degree in music. He was awarded the Lewis Sudler prize in the arts. Costanzo frequently returns to Princeton to teach courses and master classes. After Princeton, Costanzo attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he received his Masters of Music and earned the Hugh Ross Award.

Costanzo has appeared in numerous roles at the Metropolitan Opera. He has appeared as both Ferdinand and Prospero in the world premiere of The Enchanted Island. He also performed as Prince Orlofsky in a production of Die Fledermaus after making his debut as Unulfo in Rodelinda.

Costanzo has appeared in many venues throughout North America. He performed the title role in Philip Glass' Akhnaten at the English National Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, and again at The Metropolitan Opera in November and December 2019. He has also appeared with the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Philadelphia, San Diego Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Palm Beach Opera, The North Carolina Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and as a guest with Juilliard Opera.

Internationally, Costanzo made his European debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in Rinaldo and later performed with the Canadian Opera Company. Costanzo appeared at the Teatro Real Madrid in Death in Venice in 2014, the English National Opera in The Indian Queen in 2015 and the Finnish National Opera in Kaija Sariaaho's Only the Sound Remains in 2017.

A champion of new works, Costanzo has created roles in Jimmy López's Bel Canto at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Jake Heggie's Great Scott at Dallas Opera. He has also premiered works written for him by Matthew Aucoin, Paola Prestini, Gregory Spears, Suzanne Farrin, Bernard Rands, Scott Wheeler, Mohammed Fairouz, Steve Mackey, and Nico Muhly.