mong this opera's chief glories are the three big tenor-baritone duets, and they sounded sensational here thanks to the performance's biggest surprise, Mark Rucker as Don Carlo. This exceptional but as yet uncelebrated baritone rejoices in a lean, spinning, perfectly focused tone of unfailing natural beauty and vibrancy, while his grasp of Verdi style and phrasing is all but complete.” - New York Magazine

The Chicago native first appeared on the scene when he sang Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Mr. Rucker was seen not only in this production in Philadelphia but also in the PBS telecast later that season. Since then he has performed to high praise throughout North and South America, as well as in Europe and Asia.

In the 2007-08 season Mark Rucker sings Nabucco with the Opera Royale de Wallonie and Florida Grand Opera, The High Priest in Samson and Dalilah at the Teatro Communale in Bologna and to San Diego as Amonasro.

in the 2006-07 season brings him to "Met in the Parks" as Rigoletto, the Metropolitan as Tonio in I Pagliacci, Baltimore Opera, and The Greek National Opera as Nabucco.

Mr. Rucker was heard in the 2005-06 season as Nabucco at the Teatro Communale in Bologna and on tour with the company to the Savonlinna Festival with Maestro Massimo Zanetti.  He sang Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino and Amonasro at the Metropolitan Opera, Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore in Hartford with Maestro Willie Anthony Waters, and Amonasro for his debut at the Arena di Verona.

The 2004-2005 season marked Mr. Rucker’s Metropolitan Opera debut as Amonasro in Aida. He opened the season in the title role of Macbeth for Opera Carolina, made his debut as Le Comte de Toulouse in Verdi’s Jerusalem with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, returned to Bologna’s Teatro Comunale as Verdi’s Macbeth under the baton of Maestro Daniele Gatti, made his debut in the Teatro Verdi in Trieste as Macbeth, and his debut with the Israel Philharmonic as Rigoletto.

Mr. Rucker opened the 2003-2004 season as Amonasro in Aida for Atlanta Opera, followed by  Rigoletto for Boston Lyric Opera, Orlando Opera and Connecticut Opera and Tonio and Alfio in the New Orleans Opera’s Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. He closed the season with his Italian debut at the Teatro Communale in Bologna as Rigoletto under the baton of Daniele Gatti. Mr. Rucker’s 2002-2003 season began with Amonasro in Aïda with Vancouver Opera, and a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci for Florida Grand Opera and took on the title role in Nabucco in St. Gallen. Mr. Rucker made his Carnegie Hall debut in a concert version of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino with Maria Guleghina and Salvatore Licitra with the Collegiate Chorale.  The 2001-2002 season began with performances of Count Di Luna in Il trovatore with Opera Carolina. He returned to San Diego as Rigoletto, and sang a concert performance of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci with the San Antonio Symphony and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Rucker sang the title role in a new production of Rigoletto for his Netherlands Opera debut.  He made his Vienna State Opera debut as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and sang the title role in Nabucco for two consecutive summers at the Bregenz Festival. Other European credits have included Amonasro in Aïda under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw Orkest for the Netherlands Opera, performances with the Graz Opera in Un Ballo in Maschera, Stiffelio and La traviata, Amonasro in Aïda for the Arena di Verona on tour, as well as in Berlin and in Dublin, the latter of which was recorded by Naxos.

The American baritone has been heard as Rigoletto at the Florida Grand Opera with Maestro Richard Bonynge, Vancouver Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Ontario, New Orleans Opera, Opera Pacific and Portland Opera. He has been heard as Iago in Otello with Connecticut Opera, Di Luna in Il Trovatore at L'Opéra de Montréal, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci at the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. He was also heard as Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera for San Diego Opera with Maestro Edoardo Müller and as Amonasro with the New Orleans Opera and Michigan Opera Theater, sang a double-bill of Michele in Il Tabarro and Tonio in I Pagliacci with Connecticut Opera under the baton of Maestro Willy Anthony Waters, a fully-staged performance of Rigoletto with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, a concert performance of Linda di Chamounix as Antonio with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra under Maestro Bruno Campanella at the Concertgebouw.

Mr. Rucker made his Canadian debut with Opera Hamilton as Germont in La Traviata, his Mexican debut at the De Los Sportes in Mexico City as Amonasro in an international tour of Aïda. His European debut was Alfio and Tonio for Opera de Nice and his Asian debut in the same roles with Taipei City Symphony in Taiwan and Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore with Dublin Opera. He made his New York City Opera debut in the role of Rigoletto in 1988 and returned to the company in summer 1989. He has also portrayed Rigoletto with the Florentine Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre and with the opera companies of Baltimore, Orlando, Columbus, Austin, and Knoxville, among others.

Other American engagements have included the title role of Macbeth for Florida Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera and Utah Opera, Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor with Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Pacific, Portland Opera, Cleveland Opera and New York City Opera. He has been heard as Marcello in La Bohème with Opera Pacific and Michigan Opera Theatre, Amonasro in Aïda with Portland Opera and Atlanta Opera, Alfio and Tonio in Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci for Opera Pacific. He was the High Priest in Samson et Dalila with Portland Opera, Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Grand Rapids, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Connecticut Opera, Giacomo in Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco for Arizona Opera and Wolfram in Tannhäuser with Austin Lyric Opera.

On the concert stage Mr. Rucker has appeared as guest soloist in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with the Baltimore Symphony under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, has appeared also as guest soloist with the Detroit Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Los Angeles Civic Orchestra, Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. His concert repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Noah in Britten's Noye's Fludde, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem, and Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ.

Mr. Rucker can be heard on a new CD, Mark Rucker Sings Lena Mclin Songs For Voices And Piano. 

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