Short Program Biography 2025
Praised by the BBC as “an ardent and generous tenor...simply phenomenal” in his role debut as Fenton in Falstaff, Matthew Swensen’s 2024/25 season includes debuts with Teatro Regio di Torino in Der Fliegende Holländer in Amsterdam, Deutscher Symphoniker in Munich with Bruckner’s Te Deum, and the Montreal Symphony in Così fan tutte alongside Thomas Hampson. He will also perform Beethoven’s 9th Symphony across the U.S. and Europe, Bach’s B Minor Mass in Munich, and make role and company debuts as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore in New Orleans and Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Lyric Opera Kansas City.
Swensen is also the owner and chief executive of the Swendoza Group, a holding company integrating agribusiness with cultural investment. Specializing in food imports, commercial real estate, and water production, Swendoza prioritizes strengthening the relationship between Mexico and the United States through fair and ethical labor practices, sustainability, and community development. With over 100 employees, the company actively supports arts education and regional opera, fostering partnerships that connect business and culture across the U.S. and Latin America.
News and Press 2024/25
''He was everything we wanted him to be: Matthew Swensen is an ardent and generous tenor - he was simply phenomenal.”
BBC WORLD NEWS / Verdi Falstaff 2022
“After a tightly conducted and briskly paced, traditionally structured overture, Matthew Swensen, as the Steersman, took the lead alongside Andreas Bauer Kanabas, who performed the role of Daland, his captain. Swensen has a beautiful, crystal-clear tenor that comes into its own in his small role. With perfect diction, he delivers a Steersman rarely heard: on the one hand, pure bel canto, but on the other hand, perfectly focused on the drama of his texts with understandable articulation."
OPERA MAGAZINE / FLYING DUTCHMAN IN AMSTERDAM
“One of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard - truly the best Fenton I could have asked for.”
Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Falstaff at Maggio Musicale 2021
“Matthew is so musical, the phrasing and the shaping of each moment is really special. But it is in the soft moments, like my late dear friend Montserrat Caballé, where the singing and storytelling is so magical.”
Zubin Mehta / Cosi Fan Tutte at Maggio Musicale 2021
“Dazzling Coloratura with great flexibility...
Swensen has a sweet toned lyric tenor voiced of tremendous beauty.”
Classical Review / Cosi fan Tutte in London 2022