Douglas Ahlstedt (March 16, 1945 – November 24, 2023) was an American operatic tenor who had an international performance career with major opera houses from the 1970s through the 1990s.

He sang in his first opera while still a child, portraying the role of Miles in the United States premiere of Britten's The Turn of the Screw with the New York College of Music in 1958.

[1][3] He earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1968, and then served in the Army in Okinawa for two years.

[2][4] He made his debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in September 1973 as Borsa in Verdi's Rigoletto with Louis Quilico in the title role.

[2] He appeared at the Met in multiple roles, both leading and minor, over the next three seasons,[4] including Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff,[2] Benvolio in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Danieli in Verdi's I vespri siciliani, Edmondo in Puccini's Manon Lescaut, the First Prisoner in Beethoven's Fidelio, Froh in Wagner's Das Rheingold, Gastone in Verdi's La traviata, Lindoro in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, the Lover in Puccini's Il tabarro, Major-domo in Der Rosenkavalier, Nathanael in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, a Priest in Mozart's The Magic Flute, the Sailor's Voice in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and the Third Esquire in Parsifal.

[2] In 1983 Ahlstedt returned to New York City to sing as Idreno in a concert version of Rossini's Semiramide at Avery Fisher Hall presented by the American Symphony Orchestra with June Anderson in the title role, Marilyn Horne as Arsace, and Samuel Ramey as Assur.

He appeared in several more operas at the Met over the next five years, including as Count Almaviva, Fenton, Lindoro, and the title role in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.