full BIOGRAPHY
Opera Singer, Director, Educator, Business Leader, Audiobook Narrator & Producer, Coach & Consultant for the Performing Arts
Hailed as "a master of declamation and interpretation... a wonderful voice with enumerable vocal shadings... and flexibility of expression," (Sharon Mabry, Journal of Singing; author, Exploring Twentieth Century Vocal Music), award-winning singer and producer Aaron Ball enjoys many career highlights.
Aaron has appeared in leading and principal roles with Long Beach Opera, Pacific Lyric Opera, Mission Opera, Independent Opera Company, Lyric Opera of Orange County, Huntington Beach Symphony Orchestra, Valley Chamber Ensembles, TEMPO ensemble, and as soloist at Carnegie Hall; his signature roles include Don Giovanni, Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Papageno, Escamillo, Falke, and Sweeney Todd, among others.
In concert, Aaron has appeared as soloist for much of the standard oratorio and concert cannons as well as for the premieres of new works by composers Glenn Longacre (Exalted) and Nancy Reeves (Requiem); he is also an accomplished recitalist with a passion for art song performance, particularly for song cycles.
On screen, Aaron can be seen as “Mr. Projector” in the 2012 feature film The Ghastly Love of Johnny X starring Creed Bratton, Reggie Bannister, Paul Williams, and Kevin McCarthy in his final role. Aaron’s most recent screen appearance is as the fictitious silent film-era matinee idol “Devlin Rogue” in the period thriller A Blind Bargain starring Crispin Glover and Amy Wright, which will see a national theatrical release in early 2025.
Additionally, Ball is known for his childhood work in the independent films of Charles B. Pierce, films for which his father John worked as production designer and art director. Aaron’s motion picture screen debut was in Pierce’s blockbuster hit The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972). An accomplished audiobook narrator, Aaron’s debut audiobook project – a narration of author Lyle Blackburn’s best-selling The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster - is a book that details the making of Pierce’s landmark film and the legendary creature that inspired it and was published by Beacon Audiobooks in 2022. This book and others that Aaron has narrated and produced are currently available on Amazon and Audible.
Aaron serves as principal and creative director for his award-winning performing arts production and consulting firm Command virFormance (CvF) offering performing arts organizations solutions for digital delivery of performance content as well as production design for opera including projection design and implementation of digital sets, animations, and video production/direction.
In 2020, Aaron created and directed through CvF the trailer, title sequences, and original animations for client Mission Opera’s electrifying filmed version of Menotti’s The Medium, in which Aaron also performed the role of Mr. Gobineau alongside Metropolitan Opera veteran Janet Hopkins. In June of 2021, the trailer for this production won Aaron, his company, and his client the 42nd annual Telly award for Excellence in Non Broadcast Video Promotion for a Non-Profit Organization. This production went on to be awarded first place in the prestigious American Prize competitions (2023) for outstanding opera production.
In 2021, Aaron was engaged as both director and performer for Independent Opera Company’s very popular IOC Stars in Concert series - a series of concerts co-produced by IOC and CvF premiering as livestreams and available for limited periods on-demand for a global audience. In the role of famed Yiddish poet and Holocaust survivor Abraham Sutzkever, Aaron worked closely with composer Lori Laitman in preparing and performing her powerful song cycle for baritone, piano and cello The Seed of Dream to great international acclaim as well as a program of Rachmaninoff songs as part of this successful series. IOC & CvF’s co-production of The Seed of Dream was awarded second place prize for the 2023 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for outstanding performance of American Music as part of the 2023 The American Prize competitions. This production was also named as an American Prize national finalist for outstanding remote production (performers performing together) and garnered Aaron third place in the 2023 Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards for outstanding vocalist in opera or art song.
As a musician-actor, Aaron excels in spoken word and narration for contemporary classical works having performed all three roles in Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale for the Los Angeles Valley Chamber Ensemble, Aaron Alon’s Soul Flow for TEMPO, and Frederic Rzewski’s minimalist masterpieces Coming Together (1971) and Attica (1972) with the Valley Chamber Ensembles. As a core member of the Valley Chamber Ensembles, Aaron regularly champions and performs new and underproduced twentieth and twenty-first century works.
As a respected organizational leader, in addition to his founding role with CvF, Aaron also recently served as president & CEO of Randall Designs, Inc., the Emmy Award- winning dancesport industry design house (ABC’s Dancing With the Stars) that created the costumes for DWTS’ first twelve seasons.
Widely sought after as a coach and consultant for the performing arts, Aaron serves on the board of directors for Independent Opera Company in Los Angeles, as an advisory board member for Mission Opera in Santa Clarita, CA, and as a Mission Opera company trustee member of Opera America.
Aaron serves on voice faculty at NOVA Southeastern University and Broward College, both in Fort Lauderdale, and holds his BM and MM in vocal performance from California State University, Northridge where he was the winner of the 2017 CSUN Concerto/Aria competition. He is a lifetime member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the only musical honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies, as well as a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. Aaron is a union member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity Association, and AGMA.
Aaron currently resides in Deerfield Beach, FL where he maintains a private voice studio.