Ashcraft, Eric

Title
Adjunct Faculty in Music
Office:
Jenson-Noble 176
Phone:
+1.563.387.1792
Email:
Degree:
M.M., University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music
Interests:
Voice
Eric Ashcraft’s “rich, supple, powerful voice,” along with his masterful musical and dramatic sensitivity, place him in high demand for far-reaching orchestral works and opera roles. Following a recent performance of Verdi’s Requiem, the Springfield (MA) Republican newspaper wrote that he “held the listeners spellbound with his heavenly declamation of the Hostias,” adding, “His scrupulous diction and glorious, even tone throughout a vast range placed him at the head of the solo quartet.”

Upcoming engagements include Cavaradossi in Tosca with South Texas Lyric Opera, the Verdi Requiem with the La Crosse Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Quad City Symphony. Recent performances include Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives, with the Springfield Massachusetts Symphony, a return to Chicago’s Handel Week Festival, Buckner’s Te Deum with Rockford Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem with the Springfield Symphony and a Mozart Opera Gala with Travers City Symphony. Mr. Ashcragt has also sung Calaf in Turandot with Union Avenue Opera; Rodolfo in La Boheme and Don Jose in Carmen for City Opera Company of the Quad-Cities.

Mr. Ashcraft has earned praise for his portrayals of Don Jose, Rodolfo, Alfredo and Don Ottavio with presenters such as Sorg Opera, Arizona Opera Company, Pine Mountain Opera, Muddy River Opera, the Erie and Nevada opera theaters, the symphony orchestras of Ann Arbor, Battle Creek and Dubuque, New York City Opera and Opera International in Washington, D.C. Internationally Mr. Ashcraft has appeared with the Dublin Grand Opera and at the prestigious Wexford Festival Opera.

He made his a Carnegie Hall debut in Schubert’s Mass in G with MidAmerica Productions and has appeared in holiday concerts with The Florida Orchestra and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He also has performed Handel’s Messiah with the Elgin Symphony Orchersta, Lloyd-Webber’s Requiem with Mansfield Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ Hodie with the Bel Canto Chorus, Haydn’s Creation with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and Verdi’s Requiem with the symphonies of Rockford and Champaign-Urbana.

A New York District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Mr. Ashcraft received his Master of Music and an Artist’s Diploma in Opera from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.