Darren Keith Woods (born 1958, Texas) is an American

opera director Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums before disbandi ...

and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. A graduate of the

Moores School of Music The Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music is the music school of the University of Houston. The Moores School offers the Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Arts in Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in music performance, ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, he began his career as an opera singer in 1982, making his professional debut at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

(SFO) as Don Curzio in

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

''. He spent most of his singing career portraying

comprimario A comprimario is a small supporting role in an opera (or a singer who sings those roles). The word is derived from the Italian language, Italian "''con primario''", or "with the primary", meaning that the ''comprimario'' role (or singer) is not a p ...

roles with opera companies throughout North America. Some of his performance credits include appearances with the

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the ...

, the

Connecticut Grand Opera The Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra was a non-profit, professional opera company and orchestra founded under that name in 1993 and based in Stamford, Connecticut, in the United States. By uniting several organizations (including the Connecti ...

Glimmerglass Opera The Glimmerglass Festival (formerly known as Glimmerglass Opera) is an American opera company. Founded in 1975 by Peter Macris, the Glimmerglass Festival presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake nort ...

, the

Lyric Opera of Kansas City Lyric Opera of Kansas City is an American opera company located in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1958 by conductor Russell Patterson, the company presents an annual season of four operas at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Prod ...

, and the

Seattle Opera Seattle Opera is an American opera company based in Seattle, Washington. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of eight to ten performances each, often featuring double casts in major roles to all ...

among others. He was a frequent performer at the SFO during the 1980s and 1990s. Towards the end of his singing career, Woods became the Artistic Director of both the

Shreveport Opera The Shreveport Opera is an opera company in the city of Shreveport, Louisiana, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a fed ...

and the

Seagle Music Colony Seagle may refer to: Surname *Chandler Seagle (born 1996), American baseball catcher *Oscar Seagle (1877–1945), American musician and teacher * Steven T. Seagle (born 1965), American writer of comic book Other *Seagle Building, American hist ...

in upstate New York. He retired from the stage in 2001, at which time he left his post in Shreveport to assume the position of General Director of the

Fort Worth Opera Fort Worth Opera is the oldest continually-performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States, according to the company. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed ...

until his firing on February 13, 2017. He also currently serves on the board of directors of

OPERA America __NOTOC__ Opera America (stylized as OPERA America) is a New York–based service organization promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera in the United States. Almost all professional opera company, opera companies and some semi-pr ...

. Woods has been married to wig and makeup designer Steven William Bryant since June 2012.

References

1958 births Living people American opera directors American operatic tenors University of Houston alumni 20th-century American male opera singers Singers from Texas American LGBTQ singers LGBTQ people from Texas LGBTQ classical musicians Classical musicians from Texas 21st-century American LGBTQ people {{opera-bio-stub