Biography

Bass, Matthew Anchel, hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “a voice to watch,” has established himself as a versatile performer on operatic, symphonic, and concert stages throughout the United States and Europe. Now in his tenth season with The Metropolitan Opera, he has appeared in numerous productions with the company while building a career that spans leading opera houses, symphony orchestras, and concert stages on both sides of the Atlantic.

Highlights of the 2025–2026 season include appearances as soloist with The Bel Canto Series at the Benson Theater and in his solo cabaret, DIVA: A Love Letter to the Legends, for Opera Omaha. Earlier in the season, he appeared as a featured guest artist alongside Grammy Award-winning soprano Angel Blue in her cabaret performance. He returns to Opera Omaha as Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and to The Metropolitan Opera as cover for Fouquier-Tinville in Andrea Chénier and singing Second Armored Man in The Magic Flute. He also makes his debut with Nederlandse Reisopera as Hilarion in To Die For.

During the 2024–2025 season, Mr. Anchel performed the King in Aida with Opera Maine and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Judge Advocate General in Jeanine Tesori's Grounded at The Metropolitan Opera, Verdi's Requiem with Canterbury Choral Society, Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Minnesota Opera.

Recent seasons have included appearances with Arizona Opera as Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, Nashville Opera as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Houston Symphony in Salome, St. Petersburg Opera as Melisso in Alcina, and Hogfish Festival as Escamillo in Carmen. He also appeared as bass soloist with the Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall in Beethoven's Christ on the Mount of Olives.

A frequent performer with The Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Anchel has appeared in productions including Tannhäuser, The Magic Flute, Grounded, Andrea Chénier, Fedora, Dialogues des Carmélites, Cinderella, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Don Carlos, The Exterminating Angel, Cendrillon, Idomeneo, and Der Rosenkavalier. His decade-long association with the company has included both principal cover assignments and featured comprimario roles across a broad range of repertoire. He also appears on the Grammy-nominated recording of Jeanine Tesori's Grounded.

Internationally, Mr. Anchel has performed with Oper Stuttgart, where his assignments included Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Crespel and Luther in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Benoit in La bohème, Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, and The Cook in The Love for Three Oranges. He was also a member of the ensemble of Oper Leipzig, performing roles including Zaretski in Eugene Onegin, Marquis d'Obigny in La traviata, and the Police Inspector in Der Rosenkavalier. Additional engagements have included appearances with Glyndebourne Festival, Santa Fe Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Bard SummerScape, American Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Opera San José.

An accomplished concert artist, Mr. Anchel has appeared as soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Mass in Time of War, Beethoven's Mass in C, Dvořák's Stabat Mater, and Verdi's Requiem. A Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, he has also received awards from the George London Foundation, Opera Index, Palm Beach Opera, and the Loren L. Zachary Competition.