The profile of American tenor Issachah Savage was dramatically raised when he swept the boards at Seattle’s International Wagner Competition in 2014, taking first prize, audience prize, and orchestra favorite awards. Formerly a member of San Francisco’s prestigious Merola Opera Program, Savage performed a varied repertoire including scenes from Samson et Dalila, Lohengrin, Die Walküre, and Parsifal. His performance of the last act of Verdi’s Otello, inspired the San Francisco Chronicle to write, 'From his opening notes—impeccably shaded and coiled with repressed fury—to the opera’s final explosion of grief and shame, Savage sang with a combination of power and finesse that is rare to observe'.

Operatic milestones of Savage’s recent seasons include his debut as Bacchus in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at Seattle Opera under Lawrence Renes; his Metropolitan Opera debut as Don Riccardo in Verdi’s Ernani conducted by James Levine; his Los Angeles Opera debut as Narraboth in Salome, and his recent return as Tannhäuser, both conducted by James Conlon; as well as his first Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Canadian Opera Company under Music Director Johannes Debus. At Austin Lyric Opera, Savage has appeared in two of Verdi’s most demanding roles: as Otello, and as Radames in Aida. The latter role marked his debut at Houston Grand Opera under the baton of Antonino Fogliani. In semi-staged opera performance, Savage has appeared with Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as the Messenger in Aida. Equally at home on the concert platform, Savage has a wide repertoire that includes mainstay works such as Beethoven Symphony No 9, Verdi Messa da Requiem, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, and Schoenberg Gurrelieder, alongside less frequently performed pieces like Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Weill’s Lost in the Stars, and Gershwin’s Blue Monday.

Savage has received a number of prestigious awards, recognition, and career grants from institutions including the Wagner Societies of New York, Washington, D.C., and Northern California; the Licia Albanese International Puccini Foundation; and the Olga Forrai and Gerda Lissner Foundations. He was honored in the early stages of his career development as the first ever scholar artist of the Marian Anderson Society of Philadelphia.