Kellan Dunlap is a sought-after performer of opera and art song repertoire, praised for his “impressive tenor with a fluid, radiant vocal line” and his “commanding stage presence” (Opera Today). A recipient of the Presser Foundation’s 2024 Theodore Presser Music Award, he also won First Place in the National Student Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He was a semifinalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, a finalist in the Federation of the Art Song Competition, and a quarterfinalist in the international Wigmore Hall/Bollinger Song Competition.

His recent successes include Sellem (The Rake’s Progress) and Spoletta (Tosca) at the Glimmerglass Festival. Critics noted that his Sellem was shaped with a “shattering yet hilarious blend of professionalism and insolence” (Counter Punch), and that Dunlap’s “bright, light tenor and engaging stage presence greatly benefited the character of Spoletta” (Opera Today).

Since 2025, Dunlap has been a member of the International Opera Studio at Staatstheater Nürnberg. His roles there include Gastone (La Traviata), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), Abdallo (Nabucco), Kilian (Der Freischütz), and the Major-Domo to the Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier).

A graduate of the young artist programs at the Glimmerglass Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, and OPERA San Antonio, he has performed roles including Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Bégearss (The Ghosts of Versailles), Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Acis (Acis and Galatea), the Duke (Patience), and the First Officer (Dialogues des Carmélites). In scene study, he has prepared roles such as Loge and Mime (Das Rheingold), David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Basilio and Curzio (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance).

Following his Wigmore Hall debut last September, Dunlap joined pianist Lyndsi Maus for a recital tour of American art song entitled Even the Trees Weep. The tour took them to the University of Michigan, Rice University, Oakland University, the Lone Star Song Festival, and the Santa Inez in the Valley Concert Series. The program included the world premiere of Victor Cui’s song cycle of the same title, which sets texts by students, teachers, and parents affected by school shootings. The program was also recently presented in Paris as part of the American Collaboration of Music Festival. The tour and the world premiere were made possible through the support of the Presser Foundation.

In oratorio, Dunlap has appeared as a soloist in works such as Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem, including performances at Detroit Concert Hall, DeVos Hall, and Duncan Recital Hall. He earned his Bachelor of Music from Oakland University and his Master of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.