Sanford Sylvan

"[3] He worked as an usher at the Metropolitan Opera while completing his undergraduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music.

"[5] Sylvan received five Grammy nominations for his participation these recordings: Charles Fussell's Symphony for Baritone and Orchestra "Wilde" (2009);[6] Adams's The Wound-Dresser (1990), which was written for Sylvan; Fauré's L'horizon chimérique (1999); Beloved That Pilgrimage (1992), a compilation of songs by Theodore Chanler, Samuel Barber, and Aaron Copland;[1] and the soundtrack for the Penny Woolcock film of Adams' opera The Death of Klinghoffer (2003).

Of his performance in that film, chosen for the 2003 Sundance Festival, Anthony Tommasini wrote that Sylvan "should have received an Oscar nomination for his courageous portrayal of the murder victim Leon Klinghoffer".

[9] A frequent collaborator with the director Peter Sellars, Sylvan appeared in Sellars' stagings of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte as Alfonso[10] and Le nozze di Figaro in the title role,[11] and operas by John Adams including A Flowering Tree presented at Chicago's Harris Theater and in 2009 at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival.

Along with this, he was on the voice faculties of McGill University Schulich School of Music in Montréal and the Bard Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts Program.