Tenor Joshua Sanders returns to the ensemble of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden for the 2025/2026 season. His engagements there include: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Conte Almaviva), Die Zauberflöte (Tamino), La Traviata (Alfredo Germont), Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma (Tenore), Der fliegende Holländer (Steuermann), Offenbach’s Fantasio (Facio), and Alles Liebe! (Cosimo); a new queer-operetta by Misha Cvijović and Philipp Amelungsen. He debuts at the Münchener Biennale, and returns to the Internationale Maifestspiele in the world premiere of Isithunsi by Monthati Masebe and Shanice Ndlovu.

In the 2024/2025 season, Mr. Sanders debuted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Die tote Stadt (Victorin); conducted by Andris Nelsons, Deutsche Oper Am Rhein in Der fliegende Höllander (Steuermann), Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci in Galuppi’s rarely heard Baroque gem Didone abbandonata (Iarba / Nettuno) with the acclaimed Nereydas Ensemble; recorded for Deutschland Radio, the Internationale Maifestspiele in both Der fliegende Höllander (Steuermann), and Tosca (Spoletta), and Stadttheater Fürth in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Conte Almaviva) as part of the Internationale Theaterfiguren Festival.

Mr. Sanders began the 2023/2024 season with a debut in Roméo et Juliette (Roméo) at Opera San José, where he also starred in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Conte Almaviva). He joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for La Cenerentola (Don Ramiro cover), Los Angeles Opera for Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio cover), and debuted at Nashville Opera in Die Zauberflöte (Tamino). He returned to the Metropolitan Opera to workshop the title character of Sam Clay in Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and debuted at New York City’s Perelman Performing Arts Center in Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier (Major Baker / Private Carter); recorded for Apple Platoon Records. He also debuted at Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall with Berkshire Lyric as the tenor soloist in Bruckner’s Mass no.3, and returned to Madison Opera for their annual Opera in the Park concert.

The 2022/2023 season saw Mr. Sanders join the roster of The Metropolitan Opera for Robert Carsen’s production of Der Rosenkavalier. He debuted as Goro in Madama Butterfly with Palm Beach Opera, where he also covered Ferrando in Così fan tutte. In competition, he was a finalist in the prestigious Belvedere Singing Competition, and an award winner in the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition.

Mr. Sanders made his international debut in 2017 at Teatro Regio Torino as Der Hirte in Tristan und Isolde conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. During his year-long tenure at Teatro Regio, he sang roles in Turandot (Principe di Persia), Salome (Zweiter Nazarener), Montiverdi’s L’Orfeo (Eco/secondo spirito), Le nozze di Figaro (Don Curzio), and Verdi’s I Lombardi alla prima crocciata (Il Priore di Milano) which was recorded for Naxos. In that same season, he also made his house debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin as Il giudice in Un ballo in Maschera conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Past seasons include performances with Heartbeat Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Berkshire Opera Festival as Borsa in Rigoletto, Madison Opera as Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd, and a concert version of Frank Martin’s rarely heard Le Vin Herbé co-produced by Wolf Trap Opera and Washington Concert Opera.

Mr. Sanders made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2019 as a soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. He has appeared as a guest soloist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra as the titular character in Berlioz’s Lélio, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom Exhibit featuring the music of Schubert. Additional concert credits include: tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. John Passion, and Vaughan Williams’ Pilgrim’s Journey.

As a cross-over cabaret artist, Mr. Sanders most recently debuted at New York City’s Lincoln Center in concert with luminaries and winners from RuPaul’s Drag Race. He has created and performed new works for the Miami Institute of Contemporary Art and the New York State Council on the Arts; and debuted at New York City’s iconic Public Theater in 2021 as part of a cabaret curated by Justin Vivian Bond for New York State’s NYPopsUp initiative. He has also starred off-Broadway with Company XIV in their acclaimed productions of Nutcracker Rouge and Seven Sins.

An honored recipient of many grants and awards, Mr. Sanders was most recently awarded a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts’ Support for Artists initiative. In 2021, he was awarded a study grant from The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition after being named a national Semi-Finalist in 2020. He was the winner of the prestigious Amber Capital Scholarship from the Opera Foundation in 2017, the Sachi Liebersgesell award from Opera Index in 2019, and a winner of the 2017 Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition. Mr. Sanders won second prize at the 2019 Opera at Florham Violetta DuPont Competition, third prize in the 2018 Grand Stage International Song and Lieder Competition, was a finalist in the 2023 Belvedere Singing Competition, and a Grand Finalist in the 2023 Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition. In 2015, he received a career grant from Wolf Trap Opera.

Mr. Sanders was a Young Artist with Bel Canto at Caramoor in 2017, and a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera in 2014/2015. He holds a Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.