With his powerful voice and commanding stage presence, baritone Jacob Lassetter enjoys an exciting and vibrant career on both the operatic and concert stage. Critics have praised his dignified characterizations, his soaring high range, and his deep, rich tone quality.

This season Mr. Lassetter debuts with Heartland Opera Theatre as Vodnik in Rusalka, returns to Winter Opera Saint Louis to sing Rambaldo in La rondine, sings a recital featuring songs by British composers at Webster University, and returns to Druid City Opera to sing Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor.  In the summer of 2022 he sang Ford in Falstaff with Union Avenue Opera, Papa in Goldie B. Locks with Opera Edwardsville, and Tonio in I Pagliacci with Painted Sky Opera. 2022 was a season of Scarpia in Tosca for Mr. Lassetter, with performances at Mobile Opera, Druid City Opera, as well as covering the role with Anchorage Opera. Other performances in 2022 included Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Connecticut Lyric Opera, and Schubert’s Mass in G in Festus, Missouri.

In 2021 Mr. Lassetter sang Scarpia in Tosca with Marble City Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Painted Sky Opera, a season preview concert with Union Avenue Opera, as well as a solo recital at Webster University. Earlier in the 2020–2021 season he sang benefit concerts for both Winter Opera Saint Louis and Union Avenue Opera. He was scheduled to sing the title role in Der fliegende Holländer with Mid-Ohio Civic Opera, as well as a return to Italy for performances of the title role in Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and various other concerts. These engagements were all unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19.

In the 2019–2020 season Mr. Lassetter sang Sonora in La fanciulla del West with Winter Opera Saint Louis, and both Schubert’s Winterreise and Argento’s The Andrée Expedition in recital. In the 2018–2019 season he sang Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with Winter Opera Saint Louis, Carmina Burana with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem and A Symphony of Toys with The Missouri Symphony, Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore and Il Gran Sacerdote in Nabucco with Union Avenue Opera, and a series of three recitals with St. Louis Art Song.

Opera audiences have recently seen Mr. Lassetter as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Annapolis Opera, Wolfram in Tannhäuser with Apotheosis Opera (New York City,) Peter in Hänsel und Gretel with Union Avenue Opera, and Rodrigo in the world premiere of Borgia Infami with Winter Opera Saint Louis. Concert performances include Schubert’s Mass in A-Flat at Carnegie Hall, Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Robbiate, Italy, Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Bach Chamber Players of Saint Paul, Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble, and a recital on the Shepley Concert Series at Christ Church Cathedral (Saint Louis.)

Mr. Lassetter’s additional operatic credits include Germont in La traviata (including his Italian debut in Castelfranco Veneto,) Michele in Il tabarro, the title roles in Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, Horace Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, and Griswold in Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe. Other concert credits include Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion. He has earned critical acclaim for Orff’s Carmina Burana, including a performance at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, where he also sang Fauré’s Requiem. A frequent recitalist, he made his debut at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in 2008 alongside his wife, soprano Karen Kanakis.