“Earl Wellington Hazell as Booker T. Washington…peppered the story with layers. Hazell in particular [was] memorable and authoritative…” Utah Theatre Bloggers review of the Utah Festival Opera production of Ragtime
“As the Speaker, Earl Hazell sang with dark tonal colors that rang true.”
Opera Today, review of the Phoenix Opera production of Die Zauberflöte
“Earl Hazell sang the Commissioner with a stentorian voice.”
Opera Today, review of the Phoenix Opera production of La Traviata
ReverbNation Electronic Press Kit
The mysterious “Second Man” in the Cincinnati Opera world premiere of Castor and Patience by composer Gregory Spears and Pulitzer-prize winning poet laureate Tracy K. Smith (directed by Kevin Newbury); the joyful “Renty” of the San Francisco Opera production of Rhiannon Giddens’ Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar, and “The Preacher” of the critically acclaimed production of Terrence Blanchard’s Champion at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Earl Hazell, Basso Cantante is a native New Yorker and singing actor; one who continues to explore the hidden character in character roles of operas & musicals–nationally and internationally, in classic works and new.
Debuting in 2008 as Nelson and returning in the 2014/15 season as Jim in Porgy and Bess, Earl rejoined Lyric Opera of Chicago as part of the cast of Verdi’s Nabucco, directed by Matthew Ozawa and conducted by Maestro Carlo Rizzi, and again for their 2020 production of Wagner’s Ring cycle: Götterdammerung. Earl has also performed with San Francisco Opera, Tulsa Opera, Arizona Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Townsend Opera of California and Phoenix Opera; performing and covering roles such as Colline of Puccini’s La Boheme; Porgy and Crown of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Zuniga of Bizet’s Carmen; Ferrando of Verdi’s Il Trovatore; Joe of Jerome Kern’s Show Boat; Booker T. Washington of Flaherty & Ahrens’ Ragtime; Sarastro and The Speaker of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; and both Ramfis and Amonasro of Verdi’s Aida.
Earl has developed a special relationship with the Southwest, through debuting with Tulsa Opera as The Speaker in their production of Die Zauberflöte and with Phoenix Opera as Zuniga in their production of Carmen. As a featured soloist with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, he alternately performed the roles of Cascada and Kromov in their production of The Merry Widow in Tucson, before returning to perform the role of Leporello in a concert presentation of Don Giovanni. His Arizona Opera debut was in the cameo role Il Contadino in their production of Pagliacci. Earl returned to Phoenix Opera as Sarastro for their touring production of Die Zauberflöte; the Speaker for their mainstage Die Zauberflöte production in the Phoenix Orpheum Theatre, and for his acclaimed work in the cameo role of Il Commissario in their production of La Traviata. He continued working in his beloved Southwest with a return to Arizona Opera as the Old Gypsy of Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Bishop Dyer in the original opera workshop of composer Craig Bohmler’s Riders of the Purple Sage; as Talpa in Il Tabarro for the Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre production of Puccini’s Il Trittico, and Booker T. Washington for the UFOMT production of Ragtime. He also appeared to critical acclaim at Arizona Broadway Theatre–and at the Interlakes Theatre in New Hampshire–as Joe in their productions of Kern’s Show Boat.
Earl, who also debuted as Jim with San Francisco Opera for their production of Porgy and Bess, returned to San Francisco Opera for their production of Show Boat–with Director Francesca Zambello & and Conductor John de Main, iconic singers Patricia Racette & Morris Robinson, iconic actors Bill Irwin & Harriet Harris, and his wife, Alexis Davis Hazell. Both Zambello productions of Porgy and Bess and Show Boat at San Francisco Opera are still sold internationally on DVD and nationally televised on PBS.
A graduate of the La Guardia High School of the Arts at Lincoln Center, the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY under Dr. Robert C. White, Jr., and the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre under Dr. Everett McCorvey, Earl has performed with the New York Philharmonic numerous times, including their landmark performances of the Britten War Requiem under Kurt Masur in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; the Beethoven Ninth Symphony under Zuben Mehta in the United Nations, and the nationally televised Beethoven Choral Fantasy with pianist Alfred Brendel in the One Hundredth Anniversary of Carnegie Hall, conducted by James Levine of the Metropolitan Opera. Continuing soloist work in the Southwest, Earl was also the Bass soloist for the Grand Canyon University Symphony Orchestra productions of the Verdi Requiem and Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem; Bass soloist for Bach’s Mass in B minor with the American Festival Chorus & Orchestra and Utah Festival Opera Orchestra under Maestro Craig Jessop; Pilate in Bach’s St. John Passion for MusicaNova of Phoenix under Maestro Warren Cohen, and Bass soloist for the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra production of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony.
A recurring featured soloist throughout the United States and Spain with the American Spiritual Ensemble founded by Dr. Everett McCorvey, he has also worked with Opera Ebony of New York on several seminal productions. These include their critically acclaimed Gounod’s Faust and the internationally televised production Jessye Norman Sings for the Healing of AIDS in Riverside Cathedral, New York, with Jessye Norman, Max Roach, authors Maya Angelou & Toni Morrison, choreographer Bill T. Jones, actresses Anna Deveare Smith & host Whoopi Goldberg, and special guest Elton John; directed by George C. Wolfe. With the Moses Hogan Singers, he had the pleasure of working personally with the composer for Give Me Jesus: the recording of his signature Spirituals arrangements for his ensemble and the celebrated soprano Barbara Hendricks in the Academy of Arts & Letters, New York, produced and recorded by EMI.
Earl has debuted with Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Tulsa Opera, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Dayton Opera, Phoenix Opera and Arizona Opera, where he has covered, workshopped and performed roles that include Ramphis and Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida; Nelson, Jim, Undertaker, Lawyer Frazier, Robbins, Jake, Crown and Porgy of Porgy and Bess; Il Contadino in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci; Joe of Kern & Hammerstein’s Showboat; Booker T. Washington of Flaherty & Ahrens, Ragtime; Vecchio Zingaro in Verdi’s Il Trovatore; Sarastro and the Speaker of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; Balthazar of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors; Colline of Puccini’s La Boheme; Titan of Kevin Day’s Lalovavi; Talpa of Puccini’s, Il Tabarro, and Zuniga of Bizet’s Carmen. 2023 also marked his return to Druid City Opera as Raimondo of Lucia di Lammermoor in Tuscaloosa, AL, where he lives with his wife, Dr. Alexis Davis-Hazell, Mezzo-soprano and Associate Professor of Voice and Lyric Diction. He covered Raimondo in their recent production of Lucia at Cincinnati Opera.
It is through his treasured relationship with the quintessentially American opera Porgy and Bess, however, that the native New Yorker Earl has become a citizen of the world. Soon after performing in the ensemble of the historic Götz Friedrich production in the Theatre Des Westens, Berlin, he has performed a variety of roles in numerous productions of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess throughout houses in Western Europe & the UK; Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia; Australia and New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, and throughout North America. This includes the principle and character roles of Jake, Jim, Undertaker, Robbins, Nelson and Lawyer Frazier throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada and Mexico City. Houses in which he has performed these specific roles include the Centro Cultural de Belem of Lisbon; Theatre Carre, Amsterdam; Elgin Theatre of Toronto; the Royal Albert Hall of London, the Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma; Hamburgische Staatsoper; Teatro Regio di Parma; Lyric Theatre of Sydney; Teatro Comunale, Bologna; Royal Albert Hall, London; Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City; The Badminton Theatre, Athens; The Semperoper, Dresden; Mikhailovsky Theatre, St. Petersburg; The Festspielhaus of Baden-Baden; Opera-Théâtre d’Avignon, and other houses throughout Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He performed the role of Robbins in the 2026 Dayton Opera concert production of Porgy and Bess with Maestro Keitaro Harada and the Dayton Philharmonic, with a love for the opera that only seems to grow deeper with each professional experience.
Earl will return to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Renty in their 2026/27 season production of Omar.
Earl Hazell is the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director of Jazzoperetry®, Inc.: the American company which will produce his sixteen-piece jazz, vocal and spoken word poetry ensemble Rosehips, and currently produces the flagship recital series featuring him and his wife, Earl and Alexis: AMERICAN SONGS.
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