John Holiday Announces 2026-2027 Highlights

Countertenor John Holiday, renowned across genres for a voice described as 'a thing of astonishing beauty' (The New Yorker), announces highlights of his 2026-2027 season.

Highlights include the world premiere of Carlos Simon's The After Party! with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, followed by the work's Dutch premiere during a Christmas tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta; a special recital presented by London's Wigmore Hall featuring the program from Holiday's debut album, Over My Head; a return to the title role of Philip Glass's Akhnaten at the Komische Oper Berlin; Strauss's Die Fledermaus with the Bayerische Staatsoper; and the world premiere of Du Yun's Red Fox at the Dutch National Opera – all three productions directed by Barrie Kosky.

Holiday opens the season with the world premiere of Carlos Simon's The After Party! with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and conductor Lina González-Granados on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, 2026. Written for Holiday, the work takes its inspiration from the gathering that helped spark the Harlem Renaissance and marks a century of Black culture, drawing on the rhythmic traditions of Black American music. The After Party! is the centerpiece of Movement(s)!, a program also including Kodály's Dances of Galánta, Gabriela Lena Frank's Elegía Andina, and de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 1.

He brings Over My Head, a recital program drawn from his debut album, to London's Wigmore Hall on Friday, November 13, 2026, joined by pianist Kevin miller. The album – a deeply personal collection uniting spirituals, contemporary works, and art song, including world premiere recordings by Theo Morrison and Carlos Simon – was released in summer 2026 on the PENTATONE label. Gramophone described his voice as 'a thrilling one: bags of power right across a wide range,' and The New York Times raved, 'Musicality like John Holiday's can't be taught. When he sings, the sheet music's bar lines and notations fall away, and he sets the music free.' Presto Music called Holiday 'impossible to categorise – and equally impossible to resist.'

From Saturday, December 5 to Saturday, December 12, 2026, Holiday tours the Netherlands with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta for Christmas with John Holiday, which brings the European premiere of Simon's The After Party! And features Holiday on works from Handel to Gershwin, Ellington, Sinatra, Bernstein, as well as his own arrangements of 'Over My Head' and 'Amazing Grace.'

Holiday welcomes the new year in Munich, taking on the role of Prince Orlofsky in Barrie Kosky's production of Strauss's Die Fledermaus with the Bayerische Staatsoper, running from Thursday, December 31, 2026 through Sunday, January 10, 2027.

Barrie Kosky again directs as Holiday returns to one of the defining roles of the countertenor repertoire, singing the title role in Philip Glass's Akhnaten at the Komische Oper Berlin from Saturday, January 9 through Saturday, February 20, 2027.

Holiday portrays the titular creature – a mystical, shape-shifting fox – in the world premiere of Du Yun's Red Fox at the Dutch National Opera, running from Saturday, March 13 through Sunday, March 28, 2027. Directed by Barrie Kosky with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, the new opera explores the effect of disintegrating memory on human relationships, told through three narratives woven together by the supernatural figure portrayed by Holiday.

John Holiday 2026-2027 Season Calendar

Saturday, September 26, 2026 — Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra presents Movement(s)! — Zipper Hall | Los Angeles, CA — www.laco.org/events/movements/

Sunday, September 27, 2026 — Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra presents Movement(s)! — The Wallis | Beverly Hills, CA — www.laco.org/events/movements/

Program: Zoltán Kodály — Dances of Galánta; Carlos Simon — The After Party! [World Premiere]; Gabriela Lena Frank — Elegía Andina (Andean Elegy); Manuel De Falla — The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 1. Lina González-Granados, Conductor. John Holiday, Voice.

Friday, November 13, 2026 — Wigmore Hall presents John Holiday and Kevin miller — Wigmore Hall | London, UK — www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202611131300

Program: Selections from Over My Head. John Holiday, voice. Kevin miller, piano.

Saturday, December 5, 2026 to Saturday, December 12, 2026 — Amsterdam Sinfonietta presents Christmas with John Holiday — Various venues | Netherlands — www.sinfonietta.nl/concerten/kerst-met-john-holiday/

Program: Johann Sebastian Bach — Brandenburg Concerto No. 6; Antonio Vivaldi — Longe mala, umbrae, terrores, RV 629; William Grant Still — Lyric for Strings; George Frideric Handel — Aria 'Ombra mai fu' from Serse; Carlos Simon — The After Party! [European Premiere]; George Gershwin — Lullaby; George Gershwin — Embraceable You; Duke Ellington — It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing); Frank Sinatra — Fly Me to the Moon; Leonard Bernstein — Waltz; Spiritual — Over My Head / Amazing Grace. John Holiday, voice. Candida Thompson, lead & violin. Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Thursday, December 31, 2026 to Sunday, January 10, 2027 — Bayerische Staatsoper presents Strauss's Die Fledermaus — Nationaltheater München | Munich, Germany — www.staatsoper.de/en/productions/die-fledermaus/2026-12-31-1800-16178

Saturday, January 9, 2027 to Saturday, February 20, 2027 — Komische Oper Berlin presents Philip Glass's Akhnaten — Schillertheater | Berlin, Germany — www.komische-oper-berlin.de/en/what/schedule/akhnaten-echnaton/593/

Saturday, March 13, 2027 to Sunday, March 28, 2027 — Dutch National Opera presents Du Yun's Red Fox [World Premiere] — Dutch National Opera | Amsterdam, Netherlands — www.operaballet.nl/en/dutch-national-opera/2026-2027/red-fox

More About John Holiday

'Musicality like John Holiday's can't be taught. When he sings, the sheet music's bar lines and notations fall away, and he sets the music free,' writes The New York Times. A distinctive and versatile artist, praised as 'one of the finest countertenors of his generation' (Los Angeles Times) and for singing that is 'arrestingly powerful, secure and dramatically high' (The Wall Street Journal), John Holiday moves fluidly between Baroque repertoire, contemporary opera, and American song with technical assurance, stylistic authority, and remarkable storytelling ability. His unique artistry and personal story have been the subject of national profiles in The New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN's Great Big Story, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series.

Recent highlights include his debut at Washington National Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) and major returns to LA Opera in the title role of Philip Glass's Akhnaten and to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Handel's Alcina (Ruggiero). Holiday debuted as Farnace in Mitridate, re di Ponto at Boston Lyric Opera in a production by James Darrah, and performed the title role of Akhnaten in a new production by Barrie Kosky at Komische Oper Berlin. He made his debut at the BBC Proms in Joe Hisaishi's End of the World, and toured internationally with The English Concert as Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare, with performances at Carnegie Hall and London's Barbican Centre.

Holiday has appeared with major opera houses and orchestras, including the Bayerische Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera, and in concert with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, the San Francisco Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Handel and Haydn Society, and Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Additional career highlights include the title role in Xerxes at The Glimmerglass Festival and cross-genre projects ranging from The John Holiday Experience to performances at The Apollo Theater.

A committed advocate for new music and interdisciplinary work, Holiday has been featured in multiple world premieres, including the world premiere of Kevin Puts's The Hours at The Metropolitan Opera; Four Portraits at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Luna Pearl Woolf's Oratorio at PACNYC in collaboration with Trinity Church Wall Street; Matthew Aucoin's Eurydice at LA Opera; and Daniel Bernard Roumain's We Shall Not Be Moved with Opera Philadelphia and Dutch National Opera.

Holiday is the recipient of the Marian Anderson Vocal Award, the Richard Tucker Foundation's Sara Tucker Award, and first prizes at the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the Sullivan Foundation Competition, and the Dallas Opera Guild Competition.

Since 2023, he has served as Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Maryland School of Music. He holds degrees from Southern Methodist University, the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, and The Juilliard School. Learn more at www.johnholiday.com.

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

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