Mark Rucker

Master Voice Teacher

Professor of Voice at Michigan State University

From the time of his debut as Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the American baritone has been in demand in opera houses and on concert stages throughout the world. Rucker made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Amonasro in Aida and has since been heard at the Met as Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino, Tonio in I Pagliacci, and as Rigoletto for the Met in the Parks and continues to be part of the Met roster.

He sang major baritone roles in Rigoletto, Macbeth, Nabucco, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Traviata, Stiffelio, Aida, Il Trovatore, Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci, Samson et Dalila and Die Fliegende Holländer for companies such as: Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Arena di Verona, Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Teatro Comunale, Bologna, Netherlands Opera, Greek National Opera, Opéra de Wallonie, Bregenz, Savonlinna and Santander, L’Opera Montreal and numerous other North American companies. He has worked with celebrated maestri, including, Richard Bonynge, Riccardo Chailly, Fabio Luisi, Daniele Gatti, Carlo Rizzi, Gianandrea Noseda, Bruno Campanella,and Paolo Arrivabeni.

His Carnegie Hall debut as Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino received great acclaim. Other concert credits include Linda di Chamounix and Jerusalem with the Concertgebouw, and Rigoletto with the Israel and Rotterdam Philharmonics.

Recently he sang the Shostakovich,”Babi Yar “ Symphony #13 for MSU at the Wharton Center and Detroit Symphony Hall. Recordings include “Mark Rucker Sings Lena Mclin's Songs for Voice and Piano;” Amonasro in Aida for Naxos and Cambro in Opera Ebony's recording of Fosca by A. Carlos Gomes. Prof. Rucker has been General and Artistic Director for the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance Program since 2005.