About Tyrese Byrd
Tyrese Byrd, tenor, is a native of Greenville, South Carolina known for his musicianship and expressive tone. In the 2023-2024 season, Tyrese appeared as Aristée/Pluton in Orpheus in the Underworld with the University of Michigan and as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion. He will be the tenor soloist for Mendelssohn’s Elijah with The University of Michigan Chamber Choir and The Washington Chorus in Argentina, and will spend the summer as a Studio Artist at Chautauqua Opera.
His 2022-2023 season included his debut with Toledo Opera as Police Buddy 1 in Blue by Jeanine Tesori, and a return to Madison Opera as Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro. On the concert stage, Tyrese made his debut with Akron Symphony, performed with S.C. Bach, returned to Toledo Symphony for their performance of Handel’s Messiah, and will give several seminar-recitals with the Singing Justice Collaboratory Team with the University of Michigan. While managing this busy season, Tyrese is also a graduate student at the University of Michigan, studying with Dr. Louise Toppin. There he has performed Miles in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up and Herr Vogelsang in Der Schauspieldirektor, and he was a featured soloist in Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard and Bach Cantatas 131 and 61.
His 2021-2022 season brings several company debuts. He made his debut with Michigan Opera Theatre singing the role of Don Basilio in Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss. He served as a studio artist at Madison Opera where he performed Normanno Lucia di Lammermoor and Mercury in Orpheus in the Underworld. With Chicago-based organization Hearing in Color, Tyrese sang the role of Jesse in the world premiere performance of Undying Love, a one-act opera by Steve Wallace. Tyrese also made his debut with the Toledo Symphony in December as the tenor soloist in Messiah.
Tyrese is also passionate about uplifting the music of Black composers who are often excluded from the Western canon. For three years, he’s worked with a research team called Singing Justice with the University of Michigan Humanities Collaboratory, who endeavor to infiltrate the concert stage using Black Song.
Tyrese completed his undergrad studies at Furman University where he studied with Dr. Grant Knox, where he sang Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Arpad in She Loves Me, and the title role in Bastien und Bastienne. He is an accomplished concert soloist, with repertoire including in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat, several other sacred and secular cantatas, Mozart’s Requiem, Coronation Mass in C, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.