About
Baritone Jacob O’Shea is a rising young artist whose performances have been deemed, “visually and vocally [commanding]” (Boston Musical Intelligencer). O’Shea has been seen as an emerging artist at some of the top programs in the country, including the Aspen Music Festival, Palm Beach Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Central City Opera, Boston University Opera Institute, and the Seagle Festival. He has also worked with Opera in the Pines, Boston Opera Collaborative, Cambridge Chamber Ensemble and Syracuse Opera.
In the 2025/2026 season, O'Shea makes a triumphant return to the Aspen Music Festival singing Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. He was also programed to return to Boston Opera Collaborative, workshopping and premiering Elevator Trial, a commissioned work by composer Omar Najmi, but performances were sadly cancelled when the company folded in December.
In the 2024/2025 season, O’Shea was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s Boston District and was granted a position as a Reneè Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival. Throughout the festival he covered the roles of Marcello in La bohème and Guglielomo in Così fan Tutte, and served as the Wrestling Consultant for Fleming’s directorial debut production. He also made a company debut with Boston Opera Collaborative in the role of Vater in Hänsel und Gretel.
In the 2023/2024 season, O’Shea performed the Jailer in Palm Beach Opera’s Tosca. As a second year Bailey Apprentice Artist with Palm Beach Opera, O’Shea covered the roles of Sacristan and Sciarrone in Tosca, and Luther and Crespel in Les contes d’Hoffmann. As an Apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera O’Shea covered the Colonel in The Falling and the Rising. At Opera in the Pines, he covered Thomas Putnam and Reverend Hale in The Crucible.
In the 2022/2023 season, O’Shea was a first year Bailey Apprentice Artist with Palm Beach Opera and covered various roles in Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, and Falstaff. At the Boston University Opera Institute, O’Shea performed as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Dr Gibbs in Our Town, and Paul in Jake Heggie’s If I Were You.
2021/2022 season highlights include The Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up with the Boston University Opera Institute, Colline in La bohème with the Seagle Festival, and Danieli in Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot with the Cambridge Chamber Ensemble.
Offstage, O’Shea finds solace in the art of embroidery, a creative outlet that complements his musical pursuits, allowing time to explore various unique forms of artistic expression. Hailing from Albany, New York, O’Shea completed his BM in Vocal Performance from Syracuse University and his MM in Vocal Performance from Boston University. He currently resides in Boston and studies under the tutelage of William McGraw.