James Demler

Bass-baritone James Demler is known for his versatile range of repertory, spanning the operatic, oratorio, concert, and popular music genres. He has been an annual favorite with Boston’s Odyssey Opera, with recent roles as Jov in Dvorak’s Dimitrij, Pietro de Wissant in Donizetti’s L’Assedio di Calais, Geronte in Gounod’s Le Medecin Malgre Lui, and most recently Earl of Arundel in the World Premiere of Arnold Rosner’s Chronicle of Nine, which in November of 2021 was released as a CD with the Grammy winning BMOP Orchestra. Also in the Fall of 2021 Mr. Demler made his debut with the activist Opera Company White Snake Projects, singing the role of Odysseus in the premiere of Mary Prescott’s Survivor Odyssey. In January of 2022 he traveled to North Carolina for another opera premiere, this time in the roles of The Caterpillar and The King in Amy Scurria’s ALICE, an Operatic Adventure.

Other recent engagements have included performances with Boston Lyric Opera in productions of Macbeth, Katya Kabanova, and Werther, and in Europe performances as Bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem in Bruges, Belgium and Stuttgart, Germany. James has made solo appearances with The Boston Pops, Houston Symphony, Ottawa Orchestra, and Opera Orchestra of NY in Carnegie Hall. He played the role of Noah in Wes Anderson’s film Moonrise Kingdom, and in 2012 was a guest public address announcer for the Boston Red Sox. He’s been featured on numerous opera recordings, including The Importance of Being Earnest by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco with Odyssey Opera, Bandanna by Daron Hagen with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Shining Brow with the Buffalo Philharmonic, also by Daron Hagen.

As an adjudicator James Demler has taught Master Classes at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, University of Arizona, University of New Mexico, Arizona State University, and in November of 2021 was a guest teaching artist at Furman University. Mr. Demler has degrees in Vocal Performance from The University of New Mexico, The University of Arizona, and The Eastman School of Music. He completed his voice training as a Fellow at the Aspen School of Music and with the Houston Opera Studio. He has served on the faculty of Boston University since 2005.