Biography auf Deutsch

In May of 2004 Richards made his debut at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Italy as Don José in Carmen, September at Semper Oper Dresden in Madama Butterfly and also at the Hamburg State Opera as Alfredo in La Traviata. He returned to the Florida Grand Opera for Madama Butterfly. In February of 2005 he starred in the Frankfurt Opera's new production of Gounod's Faust. Richards recently sang his first Cavaradossi in Tosca for Michigan Opera Theater. In the autumn of 2005 Andrew Richards begins a longer association with the Berlin State Opera where, in the first season, he will be heard as Don José, Cavaradossi, Pinkerton and Macduff. He will make his debut with the L'Opéra National du Rhin in the title role of a new production of Verdi's Don Carlos in its original French version and with the Opera de Nice in Faust. Richards has also been invited to appear at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in Tosca and at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa as Pollione in Norma. In 2007 Richards will make his debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as Pinkerton. Other future projects include his debut in Bordeaux in Carmen and Madama Butterfly in Marseille. He will return to Frankfurt in the fall of 2007 for a new production of Don Carlos.

A graduate of Eastman School of Music Andrew Richards has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including the first prizes from the 1999 Enrico Caruso Competition, Liederkranz Vocal Competition and the Opera Index as well as having received special grants from the Puccini Foundation and the Sullivan Foundation Award Winner. He completed his stage training as Artist in Residence at the Pittsburgh Opera Center and began his professional career at the Sarasota Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. Developing his repertoire with companies throughout North America, in recent seasons Richards has had great success as Rodolfo in La Bohème in Miami, Ottawa, Calgary and Kansas City, as Lensky in Eugene Onegin with Opera Colorado, as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the New York City Opera, Cleveland Opera and Opera Delaware and as Fenton in Falstaff with the Michigan Opera Theater. He has been a frequent guest at Opera Pacific where his roles have also included the Duke in Rigoletto, Macduff in Macbeth and Alfredo in La Traviata. Richards also performed Verdi's Requiem for the first time with the Vancouver Symphony.

Other roles in his developing repertoire include the title roles in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Massenet's Werther, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Maurizio in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.