Butler Studio and YAVA alumnus Blake Denson’s roles at HGO during the 2021-22 season included Jailer in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Morales in Carmen, Daddy/Tim in alternate cast performances of The Snowy Day, and Gregorio in Romeo and Juliet. During the 2020-21 HGO Digital season he appeared in Giving Voice; Hansel and Gretel as Peter; and Suite Española: Explorando Iberia. During the 2022-23 season, Denson made his house debut as Larkens in La fanciulla del West with the Bayerische Staatsoper. He also performed as Morales and covered Escamillo in Carmen, and performed the roles of Paolo in Simon Boccanegra, Monterone in Rigoletto, and Angelotti in Tosca with Hamburg Staatsoper. Other notable debuts last season include the English National Opera singing the role of Donner in their new production of Das Rheingold; Washington National Opera as Shaunard in La bohème; and The Santa Fe Opera as Angelotti in Tosca and Plutone in Orfeo. He also returned home to sing Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Paducah Symphony. Denson recently received grants from the Tucker Music Foundation and the George London Foundation, and took honors in the International Concurs Tenor Viñas Competition and the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition. He was a Grand Finalist winner of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the winner of the 2022 George and Nora London Award for opera.