GERRIT PAUL GROEN
bass
American bass Gerrit Paul Groen has established himself as versatile performer in the UK. He is often singled out for his ability to bring to life a wide range of characters, such as Hunding (“brutal and commanding”), Tommy Carr in A Kind Man (“a portrayal of warmth and radiant goodness”) or Sarastro (“compelling intensity”).
In the 2023-24 season, Gerrit Paul Groen sings Hunding and covers Wotan for the Regents Opera Ring Cycle in London, sings Polizeikommissar and covers Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier for Saffron Opera Group, performs Wanderer in Siegfried for the Edinburgh Players Opera Group, and Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress for New Palace Opera.
A proponent of new, contemporary opera, in 2022, Mr. Groen created the title role of Tommy Carr in A Kind Man, a new opera by Jonathan Finney based on the novel by Dame Susan Hill and premiered the role of Sir Lawrence Bragg in the opera Rosalind by Peter Hugh White and Clare Heath at the National Opera Studio.
In 2021, Mr. Groen covered Hunding in Die Walküre for Longborough Festival Opera and sang König Marke in Tristan und Isolde in concert for Midsummer Opera.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, Mr. Groen covered Jean Procida in Les Vêpres Siciliennes and Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera for Welsh National Opera, multiple roles in Greek Passion for Opera North, and both Fasolt and Fafner in Das Rheingold for Longborough Festival Opera. He performed Fafner in Siegfried with The Mastersingers and sang Steuermann while covering König Marke and covered Titurel and 2nd Knight in Parsifal both for the Saffron Opera Group.
During his previous residence in the UK, Mr. Groen worked at Covent Garden, where he sang Guccio in Gianni Schicchi, covered Simone, Ginardo in Matilde di Shabran, Silvano in La Calisto, and Stefano in Thomas Adès’ The Tempest with the Royal Opera House and sangc Mother in Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with the Royal Ballet. He performed Don Fernando in Fidelio with London Lyric Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with New Devon Opera, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Aldeburgh Festival, and Cadmus/ Somnus in Semele at St. John’s Smith Square in London.
Mr. Groen studied and lived in Manhattan, where he was a founding member of Fusion Theatre. He is featured in the film Something Blue: L’Opera del Bachelor. He performed Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Manhattan School of Music, covered Claudio in Agrippina for New York City Opera and sang Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande with Floating Opera New York. He performed multiple roles with the Bronx Opera: Colline in La Bohème, Kaspar in Der Freischütz, and the title role of Don Pasquale. He sang Sarastro in with the Opera Company of Brooklyn and was an original cast member of Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème on Broadway.
As an international artist in Sydney, Mr. Groen sang Sarastro with Pacific Opera, Jupiter in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux with Pinchgut Opera, Talpa in Il Tabarro with Sydney Independent Opera, the title role in Saul with Sydney University Choirs, The Officer in Glass’ In the Penal Colony with Sydney Chamber Opera, Ford in Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love with the Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra, and Conan/Grimbald in Purcell’s King Arthur with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. He also sang The Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas with the Macau International Music Festival and Fafner with Theater Hof in Germany.
Mr. Groen studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, the Ezio Pinza Foundation in Italy, and holds a M.F.A. in Theatre Arts/Acting from Brandeis University in Boston.
