Biography

Walker Jermaine Jackson, tenor, is a native of Atlanta, GA and resides in New York City.  Praised for his extreme versatility and highly-tuned musicianship, he has sung everything from leading Verismo to character tenor roles.

After a brief hiatus, Mr. Jackson returned to the stage in 2022 as “Othello” in a new English adaptation of Verdi’s Otello produced by INseries Opera in Washington, DC.

Roles include: 

• Othello in Otello (INseries Opera, Washington, DC)

• GORO in Madama Butterfly (Festival of the Aegean, Greece)

• MIME in Siegfried (Trilogy: An Opera Company, Newark, NJ)

• PETER, the HONEYMAN in Porgy and Bess
  (Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston; PAB Theater at the Palacios de Bellas Artes, Mexico City);

• MINGO in Porgy and Bess (Princeton Festival, NJ)

• JOHN-HENRY BLAKE in Leslie Adams’ Blake (Trilogy: AOC)

• BEN in Adolphus Hailstork’s Robeson (Trilogy: AOC)

• BUSBY in Ulysses Kay’s Frederick Douglass (Trilogy: AOC)

• CANIO in Pagliacci (Amore Opera, NYC)

• JOE in La Fanciulla del West (Apotheosis Opera, NYC)

• FLORESTAN in Fidelio (Heartbeat Opera, NYC)

• ERIK in Der Fliegende Holländer and CANIO in Pagliacci (Vocal Productions NYC);

• WALTHER von der VOGELWEIDE in Tannhäuser, (Apotheosis Opera, NYC)

• SPALANZANI & NATHANIËL in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, NYC);

• GABRIELE ADORNO in Simon Boccanegra (Opera Company of Brooklyn)

• MARIO CAVARADOSSI in Tosca (Manhattan Opera Repertory Ensemble)

• BACCHUS in Ariadne auf Naxos (Opera Company of Brooklyn)

• TAMINO in Die Zauberflöte (Janiec Opera Company, Brevard Music Festival)

• FIRST ARMED MAN/FIRST PRIEST in Die Zauberflöte (Amore Opera, NYC)

Mr. Jackson was a Young Artist at the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, where he covered the role of OTELLO (for Limmie Pulliam).  He also served as an Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera, where he was featured exclusively in scenes as OTELLO by Verdi scholar and Maestro, Victor DeRenzi.  He also served as a Young Artist at the Festival of the Aegean with Mid-America Productions, which whom he made his Carnegie Hall Debut and performed in Madama Butterfly in Siros, Greece.

As a Tenor Soloist, he has performed Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and Dan Forrest's Requiem for the LIving with Mid-America Productions at Carnegie Hall; Mozart's Requiem with Mid-America International in Vienna, Austria; Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the West Village Chorale, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Handel's Messiah with the Tuscarawas Philharmonic Orchestra.  Additional Repertoire includes: Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Stainer’s The Crucifixion, Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ, and Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge: Song Cycle for Tenor Voice and Orchestra.

     “As Walther von der Vogelweide, tenor Walker J. Jackson demonstrated a fine sweet tone
     and also created a character with a touch of humor that distinguished him from the other
     nobles.”
             --Meche Kroop, author of NYC opera blog "Voce di Meche" (2015)

     “The smaller roles were equally well sung — with Walker J. Jackson as Nathanaël and
     Spalanzani...”            
             --Vivien Schweizer, the New York Times (2013)

For over seven years, he served as a professional chorister with the CONCERT CHORALE OF NEW YORK (formerly NEW YORK CHORAL ARTISTS), directed by James Bagwell and the late Joseph Flummerfelt.  With whom he sang or collaborated: New York Philharmonic; LA Philharmonic; Budapest Philharmonic; Vienna Philharmonic; Mostly Mozart Festival; Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. He has also collaborated with Cincinnati Opera, Opera Cleveland, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Other Vocal Projects have included serving as a featured soloist for the Bill T. Jones Arnie/Zane Company in NYC in the final segment of his Trilogy, “Analogy/Ambros: The Emigrant,” a featured performer in “Afram ou La Belle Swita” at the Spoleto Festival USA. He was also a featured singer in the debut of the MILE LONG OPERA in NYC.  Notable early career highlights include being the first black tenor featured on NPR’s From the Top, singing TAMINO in Die Zauberflöte at the Brevard Music Center at the age of 21; and being a finalist in Cincinnati Opera’s Opera Idol Competition.

Mr. Jackson studied Classical Voice at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and the Interlochen Arts Academy. 

Download Professional Tenor Resumé