Praised by the Huffington Post for his “ringing high notes,” tenor Bille Bruley has garnered attention for his strength and versatility in operatic repertoire from baroque to contemporary. The 2024–2025 season included his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in a new production of Salome (First Jew) directed by Claus Guth and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a return to Utah Opera for Sweeney Todd (Beadle Bamford), and a Carnegie Hall debut in Messiah with Masterwork Chorus. Future seasons include appearances with Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
The 2023–2024 season began with a debut at San Francisco Opera for Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Steve Wozniak) followed by joining the roster of Lyric Opera of Chicago for Jenufa. On the concert stage he made debuts with the Houston Symphony in Salome (First Jew) and Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Mozart’s Requiem.
Other recent highlights included his role debut in Ariadne auf Naxos (Bacchus) at Arizona Opera and returns to Austin Opera for Sweeney Todd (Beadle) and Santa Fe Opera for Der fliegende Holländer (Steuermann). Recent highlights include his role/house debuts in Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Steve Wozniak) with Austin Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and The Atlanta Opera and his return to Arizona Opera for Così fan tutte (Ferrando). He joined the roster of Lyric Opera of Chicago for Dead Man Walking to cover Father Grenville and Howard Boucher and returned to Arizona Opera for Shining Brow (Louis Sullivan) and Riders of the Purple Sage (Bern Venters). Highlights from previous seasons include Britten’s War Requiem with the Tulsa Symphony, a program of Mozart arias with the Phoenix Symphony, and a return to Santa Fe Opera, where he created the role of Benjamin in the world premiere of Poul Ruders’ The Thirteenth Child.
Bille was previously an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera in 2018 where he covered in Candide (Governor/Vanderendur/Captain) and Doctor Atomic (Captain Nolan), directed by Peter Sellars. As a member of the Young Artist Program at The Glimmerglass Festival, he sang in Christopher Alden's provocative production of Sweeney Todd (Beadle Bamford) and in Robert Ward's rarely-heard opera The Crucible (Giles Corey). He has also been an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera, singing in Britten’s The Prodigal Son (The Tempter) and The Burning Fiery Furnace (King Nebuchadnezzar). He joined the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio at Arizona Opera for the 2018–2019 season where his assignments included roles in Così fan tutte, La traviata, and Silent Night. He was a Guest Artist with the Pine Mountain Music Festival and had a major success in the title role in Britten's Peter Grimes with Indiana University Opera Theater.
Bille Bruley hails from Montgomery, Texas and is a graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and Baylor University.
