About

Tenor Dylan Elza, a Dallas, Texas native, will appear this spring as Gabe in Next to Normal with Paradox Opera. Shortly after, he will also perform as Commissario in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino with Amelia Island Opera. Last season, he took the stage as Le Prince Charmant in Viardot’s Cendrillon with Opera Arlington and portrayed Giuseppe in Verdi’s La Traviata with The Dallas Opera. Most recently, Mr. Elza performed the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, also with Opera Arlington.

Additional recent highlights include his performance as Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi with Opera on the James in Lynchburg, Virginia; the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast at Firehouse Theater; and the character of Harry in Paradox Opera’s concert premiere of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, a new opera based on the novel of the same name.

One of Dylan’s most significant past engagements include two seasons with Virginia Opera, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, as a Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist. Roles with Virginia Opera include: Messenger in Aida, Thug #1 in Il Postino, Dave in Breaking, and F.B.I. Agent in An American Dream. Covers with Virginia Opera include: Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Pablo Neruda in Il Postino, Spoletta in Tosca, Goro in Madama Butterfly, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, and he also performed Nemorino in Virginia Opera's 2019 fall outreach production.

Mr. Elza has performed with companies in Santa Fe, Boston, and the Dallas Fort-Worth area, during which he made his European debut singing Pâris in La belle Hélène (2014). Additional performed roles include: Lenski in Eugene Onegin (2018), Father Grenville in Dead Man Walking (2017), Fenton in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (2017) all with the Boston Conservatory Opera, Cop in Cradle Will Rock (2017) with Opera Saratoga, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore (2016) with the Seagle Music Colony, and Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus (2016) with the University of Texas at Arlington. Dylan is also featured on Spotify and iTunes in Opera Saratoga's CD recording of Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock as the Cop.

Other covered roles include: Don José in La Tragédie de Carmen with Charlottesville Opera (2019), Dr. Caius in Falstaff with Opera Saratoga (2017), and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the University of Texas at Arlington (2014).

Opera programs both professional and training include: Florida Grand Opera (2020-2021), Central City Opera (2021), Virginia Opera (2018-2019 and 2019-2020), Charlottesville Opera (2019), Opera Saratoga (2017), the Young Artist Vocal Academy at Houston Grand Opera (2016), Seagle Music Colony (2015 and 2016), Fort Worth Opera Chorus (2014-2016), and the Franco-American Vocal Academy (2014), and Performance Santa Fe’s winter outreach (2016 and 2017).

Mr. Elza graduated from the Boston Conservatory with his master's degree in Opera Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom in 2018. He received his B.M., magna cum laude, in Voice Performance from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2016.