Damien Geter | co-Artistic Advisor
HE/HIM
Damien Geter is a diverse artist whose credits include performances ranging from the operatic stage to the television screen.
As a composer, Damien infuses classical music with various styles from the black diaspora to create music that furthers the cause for social justice.Recent commissions include Resonance Ensemble, The Washington Chorus, Washington National Opera, Opera Theater Oregon, the University of Michigan, and All Classical Portland.
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the Grammy award-winning production of Porgy and Bess as the Undertaker, and most recently, performed the Immigration Officer in Seattle Opera’s filmed production of Jonathan Dove’s Flight, (April 2021.) This season, he returns to Portland Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, performs Sam in Trouble in Tahiti with the Reno Symphony, the title role of Quamino in the World Premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s Quamino’s Map with Chicago Opera Theatre, William Still in Sanctuary Road with the Oakland Symphony, the Bass Soloist in Sanctuaries, a chamber opera by Darrell Grant, with Third Angle New Music, and the bass soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for the Richmond Symphony.
Damien is also an acclaimed composer who infuses classical music with various styles from the black diaspora to create music that furthers the cause for social justice. Damien’s growing body of work includes chamber, vocal, orchestral, and now full operatic works. Some recent highlights include commissions Cantata for a Hopeful Tomorrow for The Washington Chorus with subsequent performances this fall at Pacific Chorale, Invisible for Opera Theater Oregon, The Justice Symphony for the University of Michigan, Buh-roke for the Portland Baroque Orchestra, and String Quartet No. 1, Neo-Soul for All Classical Portland and On-Site Opera. His piece 1619 also appeared with On Site Opera this past fall as part of their presentation “What Lies Beneath.”
His large work, An African American Requiem, will premiere in Spring 2022 in partnership with Resonance Ensemble and the Oregon Symphony with subsequent performances at the Kennedy Center. I Said What I Said for Imani Winds, co-commissioned by Anima Mundi Productions, Chamber Music Northwest, and The Oregon Bach Festival, will premiere in 2022. Damien also looks forward to the premiere of his second opera, Holy Ground, at the Glimmerglass Festival. Future commissions include World Premiere productions in 2022, 2024, and 2025.
Damien currently serves as the Artistic Advisor both for the social justice-focused award-winning vocal ensemble Resonance Ensemble and Portland Opera.
The book he co-authored, Music in Context: An Examination of Western European Music Through a Sociopolitical Lens is available on Amazon, or directly from the publisher, Kendall Hunt.