Justin Austin to Star in World Premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s THIS HOUSE

Acclaimed baritone Justin Austin – recipient of 2024 accolades Rising Star of the Year at the International Opera Awards and the Marian Anderson Vocal Award – will return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House from May 31 to June 29, 2025.

Austin was most recently seen at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis last season in The Barber of Seville, for which he won the 2025 St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his portrayal of Figaro.

Composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with a libretto by Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber, This House tells the story of Zoe Walker and her family, who have lived in the same Harlem brownstone since the 1920s. But as hidden truths about the family’s legacy come to light, Zoe begins to realize that the secrets harbored within these walls are deeper and more profound than she ever dared to imagine.

The cast features Justin Austin playing the character Lindon, and further includes Brandie Inez Sutton, Sankara Harouna, Aundi Marie Moore, Krysty Swann, Victor Robertson, Adrienne Danrich, Briana Hunter, Brad Bickhardt, and Christian Pursell. Daniela Candillari conducts and James Robinson joins as stage director.

Drama Desk Award-nominated baritone Justin Austin has been deemed “a natural performer and has been praised for his “intensity and charisma” (Opera), “rich, pointed expressiveness” (Parterre), and “immaculate musicianship” (Seen and Heard International). This season, Justin made his house debut with Los Angeles Opera as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette and returned for his role debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte.

He joined for selections from Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut Up In My Bones at La Jolla Music Society, The Soraya, and the Charleston Gaillard Center, and returned to Stuttgart, Germany for a concert with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Opera for Peace. Justin conceived and co-artistic directed My Brother’s Keeper with New York Festival of Song at Kaufman Music Center, and appeared in recital at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and Emory & Henry University. This April, he returns to Carnegie Hall for Brahms’s Deutsches Requiem with the Cecilia Chorus of New York.