“On the set, all the range of tessitura is required, carefully distributed: James Kryshak (Hitler) is indeed the hysterical "tenor buffo" wanted by Raskatov…”

 - Diapson (Emmanuel Dupuy)

“James Kryshak’s crisp tenor, vivid way with a phrase and exuberant acting hit the spot!”

American tenor James Kryshak is admired for his extraordinary upper register and magnetic presence as a singing actor. With a voice capable of navigating extreme tessitura and an instinct for vivid characterisation, he brings nuance and energy to a repertoire spanning baroque, bel canto, 20th-century modernism, and contemporary opera. Equally at home in comic and dramatic roles, he has established himself as a distinctive and versatile presence on Europe’s leading stages.

This season, James appears across a remarkable range of productions and repertoire. He returns to the Semperoper Dresden as Monsieur Triquet in Eugene Onegin and to the Staatsoper Hamburg in three contrasting roles: Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos, Dr. Caius in Falstaff, and the First Jew in Salome. He makes his house debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Pong in Turandot, and reprises the role of the Police Inspector in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed production of The Nose at the Komische Oper Berlin. On the concert platform, he joins the Dutch Radio Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam for performances as Bob Boles in Peter Grimesand the High Priest in Akhnaten. He also appears as Federico in a new staging of Stiffelio at Theater an der Wien and sings the role of "Five" in Philip Venables’ We Are the Lucky Ones at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl.

In the 2024/25 season, James returned to Opera Vlaanderen to make his role debut as Der Hauptmann in a new production of Wozzeck conducted by Alejo Pérez. He also returned to the Komische Oper Berlin as Beadle Bamford in Barrie Kosky’s new staging of Sweeney Todd, made his debut at the Finnish National Opera reprising the role of Squealer in Alexander Raskatov’s Animal Farm, and appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra as the First Jew in concert performances of Salome conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano.

Other recent highlights include his return to the Komische Oper Berlin as the Astrologer in The Golden Cockerel and to the Staatsoper Hamburg as the First Jew in Salome; he also made debuts at the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Dr. Caius in Falstaff and at the Opéra national de Lorraine as the Lottery Agent in Der Silbersee. At the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, he performed a virtuosic array of roles in Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin with the Dutch Radio Orchestra. In the previous season, he appeared as Squealer in the world premiere of Raskatov’s Animal Farm at Dutch National Opera, the Police Inspector in The Nose at Semperoper Dresden, and Fatty in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for Opera Vlaanderen and in Luxembourg. Additional appearances included Spoletta in Tosca at Staatsoper Hamburg, Monsieur Triquet in Eugene Onegin at Teatro Massimo, Palermo, and the Schoolmaster in The Cunning Little Vixenat the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Further engagements have included the Lottery Agent in Der Silbersee and Bardolfo in Falstaff at the Komische Oper Berlin, the Police Inspector in The Nose at Theater Basel, and appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival with the Bergen Philharmonic in Salome. He made his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg as Guillaume de Montfort in Manon, performed Little Bat in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah at San Francisco Opera, and sang Bob Boles in Peter Grimes at Teatro São Carlos, Lisbon. He created the role of Hitler in the World Premiere of Germania at Opéra de Lyon and portrayed the Shabby Peasant in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for Birmingham Opera Company, directed by the late Sir Graham Vick. At the Glyndebourne Festival, he debuted as Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos) and returned as Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail).

James was previously a member of the ensembles of both the Wiener Staatsoper and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

During the Summer of 2012, James performed the role of Sellem, the Auctioneer, in The Rake’s Progress with Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Young Artist.  In May of 2012, James made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra, both in Cleveland and at Carnegie Hall, singing the Fourth Jew in Strauss' Salome under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst.

Kryshak spent two seasons with the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he sang several roles including;  Joe in La fanciulla del West, Amelia’s Servant in Un ballo in maschera, the Second Nobleman in Lohengrin, the Herald in Rinaldo, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, as well as several others.

A winner in both District (Wisconsin 2008, Minnesota 2009) and Regional (Upper Midwest 2009) levels of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, James sang on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as a National Semi-Finalist in February 2009. Kryshak has been awarded A Shouse Career Grant (Wolf Trap Opera - 2012), The Richard Gold Career Grant (The Shoshana Foundataion & Lyric Opera of Chicago - 2012), the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Prize in Male Voice (2011), as well as the Lola Fletcher Prize of the American Opera Society of Chicago (2011).  James has also been a Finalist in the Ferruccio Tagliavini International Vocal Competition in Deutschlandsberg, Austria (April 2005) as well as a Semi-Finalist in the Klassik Mania Competition in Vienna (July 2005). 

James is a passionate recitalist and has presented several concerts on various themes he has conceived himself; American Kaleidoscope - The Life and Songs of Stephen C. Foster; Live at Mayne Stage (Sunday Morning Recital Series broadcast on WFMT Radio Chicago, IL); Opera with Altitude - Music for the High Country; Broadway Favorites - This is the Moment; and many more.  He has been a featured soloist with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Bernstein's Chichester Psalms), The Baroque Band of Chicago (Handel's Messiah and La Resurrezione), The Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and Beloit Janesville Symphony (Mozart Requiem).

James holds a Masters Degree in Opera Performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison where he was the recipient of the Wisconsin Distinguished Voice Excellence Fellowship (2008-09) and studied with Julia Faulkner and William Farlow.  He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music (Voice) and German from Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, IL). Further studies include continued vocal study in Vienna, Austria with Michele Friedman (Institute for European Studies Vienna/Musik und Kunst Privatunversität der Stadt Wien), an apprenticeship with Des Moines Metro Opera in 2009 and a vocalist in the Tyrolean Opera Program in 2006 under the direction of Elizabeth Bachman.