John De Haan
Tenor
Teaching Philosophy
My primary aim for each student is to achieve a free, balanced tone by evening out the scale on all vowels and at all dynamic levels, without undue subglottal pressure or tension. I also believe in the balance of light and dark in the bel canto voice. All of this can and should be accomplished in a stress-free environment. I believe happy singers sing better and progress faster than tense or apprehensive singers. What we do for the furtherment of the art form we love so much should be a joyful experience.
John David De Haan has performed to international acclaim throughout the world singing both traditional and contemporary music. Formerly a principal artist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Mr. De Haan sang Florestan in Fidelio, Erik in Der Fliegende Hollander, Macduff in Macbeth, Hans Schwalb in Mathis der Maler, and as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Elsewhere in Europe, he performed in Lubeck as Jimmy Mahoney in Mahagonny, the Netherlands Opera as Arbace in Idomeneo, the Scottish Opera as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and in Mannheim as Tamino in Die Zauberflote and Florestan in Fidelio. In North America, he appeared as Erik in Der Fliegende Hollander with Opera Carolina, and L’Opera Montreal.
Prior to undertaking the heroic tenor repertory, Mr. De Haan appeared with leading opera companies in lyric roles, including Romeo et Juliette, Faust, Andres in Wozzeck and Melot in Tristan und Isolde with the San Francisco Opera, Arbace in Idomeneo and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Greater Miami Opera, in Cherubin and A Night at the Chinese Opera at the Santa Fe Opera, as Werther and as Anatol in Vanessa at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and as Alfredo in La Traviata at Tulsa Opera and New Orleans Opera. He has also appeared with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Memphis, Indianapolis Opera, Seattle Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
In concert, Mr. De Haan has appeared as tenor soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Tokyo, with the Latvian National Symphony in an all-Wagner program, as Siegmund in Act I of Die Walkure with the National Orchestra of Greece in Athens and the Louisiana Philharmonic, as tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony, in L’Opera de Montreal’s gala concert, as the Evangelist in the St. John Passion with the Detroit Symphony, in the Mozart Requiem with Midsummer Mozart in San Francisco, in a concert performance of The Nose with Sinfonia San Francisco and in an evening of music theatre with the San Francisco Symphony. He performed “der Fremde” in Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane in concert under the baton of Edo de Waart at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
One of Mr. De Haan’s CD offerings, Songs, features the solo vocal compositions of jazz legend Dave Brubeck (with Mr. Brubeck at the piano for seven of the works) and is available on Naxos Records. John De Haan also recorded the title role of the world premiere studio recording of Willie the Weeper by Jerome Moross for Naxos Records. Mr. De Haan may be heard in the leading role of “der Fremde” in Decca’s recording of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane conducted by John Mauceri, and in Goldschmidt’s Beatrice Cenci for Sony Records. He also appears on Naxos Records in Stephen Hartke’s The Greater Good.
John David De Haan has also achieved success and recognition as a teacher. His students have been selected by highly regarded young artist training and apprenticeship programs including the Merola Opera Program, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and Minnesota Opera. They have successfully competed on all levels of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Many of his students enjoy successful operatic, concert and recording careers both in North America and Europe.
John David De Haan is a native of Kansas and a graduate of Union College and of the University of Nebraska where he earned his Master of Music degree. He is a winner of the prestigious Eleanor Steber Music Foundation Mozart Award and a former Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera. He has received life-time achievement awards from the University of Nebraska and from the Adventist Alumni Association. He is also currently on the voice and opera faculty at University of Minnesota’s School of Music in Minneapolis. He resides in Shorewood, Minnesota with his wife and two daughters.
