Peter L. Atherton, D.M.A.

Bass-baritone Peter Atherton has had the joy of performing over forty-five roles ranging from Seneca in The Coronation of Poppea to Frederick in A Little Night Music.  His operatic credits include performances with the Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Baltimore Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Wolf Trap Opera, Virginia Opera, San Francisco Opera Touring Division, Opera Atelier, Cairo Opera and the Operafestival of Rome and Verona.  He has performed with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Lucas Foss, James Conlon, Kurt Herbert Adler, David Effron and Myung-Whun Chung.

In concert and oratorio he has performed to acclaim with numerous orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, L'Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Bach Cercle Genéve, International Chamber Ensemble Rome, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Orchestre de Belgique, Philadelphia Singers, San Diego Symphony, William Hall Chorale, Angeles Chorale and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. Equally popular in recital, he has performed in Vienna, Zürich, Rome, Hannover, Basel, Geneva, New York, Houston, Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. 

Mr. Atherton's versatility as a singing-actor enabled him to perform six different roles in The Phantom of the Opera in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.  He has also recorded a program of French Art Song for the Hannover Radio in Germany.

Mr. Atherton holds the Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from The Juilliard School, Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Southern California, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles.  He has received numerous awards including Artist of the Year sponsored by The National Arts Club in New York City and a full scholarship to The International Academy for Soloists where he studied exclusively with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.  His teachers have been Dale Gilliland, Beverly Peck Johnson, Margaret Schaper, Armen Boyajian, Margaret Hoswell, Martial Singher, Edward Zambara, Ruth Falcon and Timothy Mussard.

Mr. Atherton presently is Director of Operatic Studies and Associate Professor of Voice at Chapman University. He has taught at the University of Southern California, the University of California at Los Angeles, Occidental College and at Operafestival di Roma and has presented Master Classes throughout North America.  His students have been admitted to prestigious graduate and apprentice programs across the country and many are professional performers in Europe, the United States and Canada.