Eric McEnaney

Eric McEnaney has worked as a pianist and vocal coach on more than 80 productions for Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Central City Opera, Virginia Opera, Florentine Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Wolf Trap Opera Company, Opera Southwest, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Lyric Opera of the North, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Sieur Du Luth Festival, Skylark Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Seaside Music Theater, The Little Theatre on the Square, the Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theater at the University of Iowa, and the University of Minnesota, where he completed a doctoral degree in collaborative piano and coaching.  In recent seasons, he has also served as pianist and coach for the workshop and rehearsal process of several newly commissioned operas including Doubt, The Manchurian Candidate, The Poe Project, Rockland, The Shining, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Silent Night.  A dedicated advocate for the creative training of young singers, Dr. McEnaney has served as faculty coach for numerous summer opera festivals and has also designed and administrated two young artist programs: The Gate City Bank Young Artist Program at Fargo-Moorhead Opera and the ECCO Program, a joint venture between Minnesota Opera and the University of Minnesota.

As a recitalist, Dr. McEnaney has appeared with singers from the rosters of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Santa Fe Opera, among others. His performances have been broadcast locally and nationally on Minnesota Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, Twin Cities Public Television, KSTP-TV's Twin Cities Live, and American Public Media's A Prairie Home Companion.  He has assisted many of the most renowned vocal artists of our time in masterclasses and private sessions, including Christine Brewer, David Daniels, Elizabeth Futral, Denyce Graves, Thomas Hampson, Frank Lopardo, Susanna Phillips, John Relyea, and Carol Vaness.  Dr. McEnaney is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West where he studied vocal piano and interpretation with pianist Warren Jones and accompanied the voice studio of legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. He holds additional degrees in piano performance from Eastern Illinois University and the University of Iowa and maintains a private coaching studio in Minneapolis.  www.ericmcenaney.com