With over 25 years of experience as a professional opera singer, Verdi baritone and seasoned voice instructor Thomas Potter has shared the stage with great artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kurt Moll, Dolora Zajick, and Deborah Voigt, to mention a few.  Some opera companies with which Potter has performed include the Teatro Comunale ‘Giuseppe Verdi’ in Trieste, Palm Beach Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Cordoba, Opera São Paulo, Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg, Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Atlanta Opera, Utah Opera, Orlando Opera [MADAMA BUTTERFLY and IL TROVATORE], and Indianapolis Opera.  As a winner of the Luciano Pavarotti International Vocal Competition in Philadelphia, Potter was awarded the opportunity to sing alongside Mr. Pavarotti in the resulting production of Verdi’s opera UN BALLO IN MASCHERA.  From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Potter was engaged by the Stadttheater St. Gallen in Switzerland, singing the roles of “Scarpia” in TOSCA, “Jochanaan” in SALOME, “Alfio” in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, “Ezio” in ATTILA, “Amonasro” in AIDA, and “Giorgio Germont” in LA TRAVIATA, among others.

Concert work continues to play an important role in Potter’s career, with credits such as performances of Britten’s WAR REQUIEM in the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, Walton’s BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST with the São Paulo [Brazil] State Symphony and Chorus, Verdi’s MESSA DA REQUIEM and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, each with the Florida Orchestra, and several soloist appearances in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the Italian premiere of Michael Torke’s MASS at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Haydn’s THE CREATION with the Elgin Choral Union in Illinois, and a concert of ROGERS & HAMMERSTEIN and LERNER & LOEWE favorites with the San Francisco Symphony.

Currently, Potter is the Voice and Choral Area Coordinator at the University of Central Florida here in Orlando. He directs the UCF Opera program and teaches undergraduate and graduate level voice lessons as well as courses in Diction for Singers and the International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA].