[15][16][17][18] In 2013, Riesen won 1st place "Tenor" and "Audience Favorite" at the Harold Haugh Opera Vocal Competition as well as being awarded a "Jackson Symphony Contract Winner".

[11][22] In 2022, he sang, the "American Anthem" at the Patriot Gala Awards ceremony for Medal of Honor recipients, hosted by Gary Sinise in Knoxville, Tennessee.

[24][25][26][4][3] [27][28] He played the lead role of Tony in West Side Story Suite at Lincoln Center[29] and was a featured tenor in Messiah, conducted by Kent Tritle, at Carnegie Hall.

[30][15] He is an associate producer on Aaron Lazar's 2024 album release, Impossible Dream, featuring Josh Groban, Neil Patrick Harris, Kristin Chenoweth, and Kelli O'Hara, among others.

The trio (Riesen, Patrick Dailey, and Daniel Emmet) using Metaphysic AI and deepfake multimedia, sang, "Nessun dorma" from Turandot with imagery of Simon Cowell, Terry Crews and Howie Mandel singing together.