Jason was awarded an encouragement award at the 2nd annual Marcello Giordani Foundation competition as well as a grant from the Sergio Franchi Music Foundation on March 30.

Here’s a peek into Minnesota Opera’s production of Hamlet. Jason makes his company debut with Minnesota as Laertes in this retelling of Shakespeare’s classic play.

“Making his VO debut as Rodolfo, a poet and dreamer, is tenor Jason Slayden, just in the very first stages of his international career. Casting Slayden is the boldest aspect of the production. … he’s a very affecting Rodolfo: he’s absolutely right for the character, and demonstrates considerable subtlety as an actor.”

–David Gordon Duke, special to the Vancouver sun. Read the full review: “Young Cast Finds inner Truth in La Boheme”.

“[Slayden] has a gently heartfelt, note-perfect tenor. … a beautifully calibrated [Act III] trio with Fiset and Etienne Dupuis’s Marcello, and then an emotionally wrought “Oh, Mimi” duet with Dupuis in the fourth. When he throws himself on his beloved’s deathbed in the finale, you really buy his grief; it’s not melodramatic.”

“The performers, and director Nancy Hermiston… have found the life that Giacomo Puccini breathed into the characters.”

–Janet Smith, The Georgia Straight Read the full review: “Vancouver Opera’s La Boheme breathes believable life into Giacomo Puccini’s characters”.

“Yesterday night marked tenor Jason Slayden’s international debut. …he has a lovely, elegant tone and is a fantastic actor. His Rodolfo was always sensitive and detailed, and his diction was particularly good. I particularly appreciated his unusually complex portrayal of the character – his Rodolfo is not just the dreamy poet, but also the fun roommate and the emotionally abusive boyfriend. As a result, the love affair seemed real, as opposed to a romanticized idea of young love. His ‘Che gelida manina’ was refreshingly realistic and conversational, and was dramatically as well as musically interesting.”

“Any hint of melodrama or stereotypical opera mime was gone, and instead replaced with subtle, natural interactions.”

–nonpiudifiori.wordpress.com Read the full review: Live Review – La Bohème (Vancouver Opera) .

“All the performances were spot-on with tenor Jason Slayden (Rodolfo) and Marianne Fiset (Mimi), both making their Vancouver Opera debut, driving the show with deep understandings of their characters and expressing it through their phenomenal voices.”

–Rebecca Bollwitt, www.miss604.com Read the full review: “Vancouver Opera: La Bohème”.