Andrew Sweeney, Artistic Director
Bel Canto
2005 to present

One of Alaska’s leading musical authorities, Executive Associate Artistic Director of Anchorage Opera, Andrew Sweeney, is celebrating his twenty-second year of professional music making as Conductor, Singer, Musical Director, Arranger, and Composer. Born in Vancouver, Washington, Alaska has been his home since childhood. While attaining academic degrees in Southern California at Chapman University and UCLA, Mr. Sweeney studied and performed under the direction of Placido Domingo at Los Angeles Opera.

In February 2009, Mr. Sweeney attracted national attention after successfully taking over for an ailing conductor during Anchorage Opera’s production of The Barber of Seville. Among enthusiasts, the event recalled the time when young Leonard Bernstein stepped up to the podium for the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in New York City for Bruno Walter, who had fallen ill. This season, Mr. Sweeney will be conducting Anchorage Opera’s new concert production, The Power of Love, which will feature Alaska’s leading singers and guest international opera stars John Nuzzo and Erin Wood. He has also served as guest chorus, oratorio, and opera conductor, stage director, and composer/arranger for a wide range of performing arts groups in Alaska including the Anchorage Concert Chorus and the Bel Canto Singers of Alaska.

In addition to his podium experience, in 2003, Mr. Sweeney was a Regional Finalist in the National Metropolitan Council Auditions for young opera singers. As a tenor soloist, he has received awards from The National Metropolitan Opera Council, The Wagner Society, The Leni Fe Bland Foundation, and The National Association of Teachers of Singing. He has participated in master classes with Horst Gunter, Frans Boerlage, Thomas Hampson, Dawn Upshaw, Martin Katz, and Carol Van Ness.

His operatic performances have included roles in The Barber of Seville, The Tales of Hoffman, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Rake's Progress, La Scala di Seta, Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Le Pauvre Matelot, Billy Budd, Falstaff, Tosca, Iolanthe, Turn of the Screw, La Tabernera del Puerto, Susannah, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, and Carmen. Concert engagements include Orff’s Carmina Burana and Catulli Carmina, Benjamin Britten's St. Nicholas Cantata as the title role, Handel’s Messiah, and Roger Bourland's world premiere of Rosarium.

A highly regarded champion of the performing arts, he is a sought-after adjudicator and clinician and makes numerous appearances in Southcentral Alaska’s community venues each year. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Chapman University and Masters and Doctoral degrees (ABD) in Vocal Performance from UCLA. Mr. Sweeney makes his home in Big Wild Anchorage.