Spencer Hamlin has been praised by Opera News for his “dazzling Italianate voice” and “scintillatingly smooth leggiero tenor.” Most recently, Hamlin participated in The Glimmerglass Festival where he performed the role of Chekalinsky in The Queen of Spades and covered Bégearss in The Ghosts of Versailles. Before that, Hamlin was an Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera during their 2019 Winter Season where he sang the role of Il principe di Persia in Turandot. Hamlin appeared as Almaviva in New York City Opera’s Bryant Park series production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, after making his NYCO debut as Detective Thibodeau in the New York premiere of Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne. Recent concert appearances include being the tenor soloist for Mozart’s Requiem and Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Waterbury Chorale as well as the tenor soloist for Theofanidis’ The Urgency of Love with the New Haven Chorale.
Hamlin received his masters degree from the University of Connecticut where he studied under Dr. Constance Rock. After hearing Hamlin as Nemorino in UConn Opera Theater’s production of L’elisir d’amore, the Pulitzer Prize winning former Washington Post music critic Tim Page wrote: “Spencer Hamlin has a sweetly lyrical high tenor voice, which he deploys with immaculate taste, and his acting is communicative and persuasive.” Other roles have included Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Tonio in La fille du régiment, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Judge Danforth in The Crucible, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the title role in Albert Herring, Henrik in A Little Night Music, and Laurie in Little Women.
Hamlin has performed with The Glimmerglass Festival, Sarasota Opera, New York City Opera, Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance series, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of Connecticut, Hartford Opera Theater, Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theater, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury Chorale, Pioneer Valley Symphony, Rhode Island College Symphony Orchestra, and various ensembles at the University of Connecticut. Hamlin is also an Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, CT.