Easterlin received his
Bachelor of Music degree from the
University of Miami and his Bachelor of Science degree from
Florida International University, and after a successful career in corporate advertising, began his performing career in musical theatre before moving into opera. He went on to perform at many of America's leading opera houses and festivals, including the
Lyric Opera of Chicago,
San Francisco Opera,
Los Angeles Opera,
Seattle Opera,
New York City Opera,
Dallas Opera, the
Opera Company of Philadelphia, the
Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony conducted by
Daniel Barenboim for the opening night of the Centennial Season, and
Spoleto Festival USA in a new production of
Ariadne auf Naxos conducted by Emmanual Villaume. He made his debut at the
Glimmerglass Opera Festival in the summer of 2009 as 'The Magician' in a new production of Menotti's
The Consul. According to
Opera News, Easterlin spent 200 hours learning magic tricks for this production, which included producing a live rabbit on stage. Another unusual role for him was
Houston Grand Opera's 2006 all-puppet production of
Humperdinck's opera
Hansel and Gretel in which he sang the role of the Witch as well as operating her twelve-foot high puppet. Easterlin's debut at the
Metropolitan Opera came in 2004 when he appeared in a new production of
Richard Strauss'
Salome with
Karita Mattila, and he has since returned there for productions of Strauss'
Der Rosenkavalier (2005), Prokofiev's
The Gambler (2008), the revival of
Salome (2008) which was also screened on the
Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series,
Elektra, opposite Susan Bullock and
Deborah Voigt (2009) and
Khovanshchina and
The Makropoulos Case (2012). In 2008 he also performed the role of Jack O'Brien in
Kurt Weill's
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with
Los Angeles Opera, sharing the stage with
Patti LuPone and
Audra McDonald, in a production conducted by
James Conlon. The performance was recorded for
PBS's
Great Performances and subsequently released on DVD for the EuroArts label. The recording won two
Grammy Awards in 2009, for "Best Classical Album" and "Best Opera Recording".
Europe He made his European debut in 2008 as 'The Hunchback' in
Die Frau ohne Schatten at the
Paris Opera where he returned in 2010 as Squeak in
Billy Budd. His other international appearances include his debuts at the
Vienna State Opera as Herod in
Salome (2009), London's
Royal Opera House as Prince Nilsky in a new production of
The Gambler (2010) and as The Steersman in "
The Flying Dutchman" (2011), the
Teatro Real in Madrid and the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as Jack O'Brien/Toby Higgins in
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2010) and (2011), the
Teatro Real in Madrid as the Shabby Peasant in "
Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk" (2011), and the
Canadian Opera Company as Monostatos in
Die Zauberflöte and as the Dancing Master and Brighella in "
Ariadne auf Naxos" (2011). In previous years, he has appeared as Brighella in
Ariadne auf Naxos with the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv (2007), The Captain in
Wozzeck at Japan's
Saito Kinen Festival in a production conducted by Seiji Ozawa (2004), and Pedrillo in
Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opéra de Québec (2003). The son of a
Presbyterian minister, Merrill Lincoln Easterlin, and a committed Christian himself, John Easterlin has appeared as a guest soloist in many churches including
Knox Presbyterian Church, in
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada; the
Crystal Cathedral, in California;
First Baptist Church, in
Dallas, Texas; the First Presbyterian Church, in
Orlando, Florida;
St. George's United Methodist Church, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the
John Street Methodist Church in
New York City, where he sang in the church's first Sunday service following the
September 11, 2001 attacks. ==References==