This season at HGO, Michael Spyres performs the role of Manrico in Il trovatore, returning to Houston after taking the Wortham stage as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (2022) and Fernand in one performance of La favorite (2020). Elsewhere during the 2024-25 season, Spyres performs the title role of Palestrina, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and Florestan in Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera; the title role of Jephtha in Paris, Madrid, and London; and Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Bayreuth Festival. During the 2023-24 season, Spyres made his debut in the title role of Lohengrin at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg and Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Bayreuth Festival. He also sang Licinius in a new staging of La vestale at the National Opéra de Paris and Énée in Les Troyens at Salzburger Festspiele, BBC Proms, and Berliner Festspiele. Other recent highlights include the title role in Idomeneo and Pollione in Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, Don José in Carmen at Opéra National de Paris and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Jupiter in Handel’s Semele at Bavarian State Opera. Spyres has performed at opera houses and festivals worldwide such as Teatro alla Scala, London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Chicago Lyric Opera, and Teatro Real de Madrid. He has been the Artistic Director of the Ozarks Lyric Opera since 2015. Spyres won the Male Singer Award in the 2023 International Opera Awards, was named Best Male Singer of the Year at the 2024 Oper! Awards, and received the Opus Klassik 2024 award for his solo album In The Shadows. In 2021, he was honored with the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres designation by the government of France.