Daniel Moody

Countertenor Daniel Moody, praised for his “vivid and powerful” voice and his ability to “pierce hearts” and “utterly silence a room” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), has earned widespread acclaim for his commanding yet expressive timbre and breathtaking musicianship. Engagements in the 2025/26 season include singing St. John in the world premiere staging of Stradella’s St. John the Baptist with InSeries Opera, Handel’s Messiah with Concert Series at Saint Thomas and his Boston Early Music Festival debut as Basilio in Telemann’s Don Quichotte.

During the 2024/25 season, Mr. Moody performed Handel’s Messiah with Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Bach Cantatas with Les Violons du Roy and Early Music Vancouver, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Alabama Symphony. He also portrayed Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Inseries Opera and joined American Lyric Theater in The Shadow (Rodríguez/Norman), as part of the company’s Opera in Eden project. In 2023/24, Daniel appeared in Acis and Galatea with Philharmonia Baroque, covered Arsace in Partenope at San Francisco Opera, and completed a residency at the Marlboro Music Festival.  Additionally, he joined the Portland Baroque Orchestra for a concert of Handel works under the baton of Julian Perkins and sang the alto solos in Messiah with Oratorio Society of New York and The Trey Clegg Singers. 

In 2022, Mr. Moody made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet in the role of Rosenkranz where he’s recently returned to cover Countertenor 3 in El Niño and Man Under the Arch/Hotel Clerk in The Hours. Other recent operatic engagements include Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Vancouver Opera, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with Cincinnati Opera, and Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare at Atlanta Opera.  

A champion of contemporary music, Moody performed the American premiere of George Benjamin’s Dream of the Song under the baton of Stefan Asbury at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music. He’s been featured in several world premieres, including Jorge Sosa’s Alice in the Pandemic and Elena Ruehr’s Cosmic Cowboy with White Snake Projects. Further roles include Man #1 in Hannah Lash’s three-person opera, Desire, with the JACK Quartet at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre and Special Weapons Officer in Peter Knell and Stephanie Fleischmann’s Arkhipov at LA’s Kirk Douglas Theater, conducted by Daniela Candillari. Moody has also showcased his artistry in a variety of new productions, including Mark Morris’ interpretations of Britten’s Curlew River and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House and the Tanglewood Music Festival, where the Financial Times praised his “inspired and absorbing performances.”

Mr. Moody is a frequent soloist of leading symphonic and baroque orchestras, including Apollo’s Fire, Minnesota Orchestra, Cincinnati Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Philharmonia Baroque, and Les Violons du Roy. His appearance with Philharmonia Baroque alongside mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and conductor Nicholas McGegan was described as a “combination of tenderness and theatrical verve” (San Francisco Chronicle). He has worked with such conductors as Bernard Labadie, Nicholas Carter, David Hill, Nicholas Kramer, Ken Lam, Robert Moody, Thomas Søndergård, Jeannette Sorrell, Kent Tritle, and Gary Wedow.

A former member of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music’s Yale Voxtet, he has performed with conductors David Hill, Simon Carrington, Masaaki Suzuki, and Matthew Halls, with performances broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 (UK), Boston’s WGBH, Indiana’s WFIU, and WSHU’s Sunday Baroque.

 Mr. Moody holds a BM from Peabody Conservatory, a MM from Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music. Moody has received awards from the George London Competition, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Handel Aria Competition, New York Oratorio Society Competition, and Russell Wonderlic Competition.