Technical Sgt. Ben Edquist is a baritone vocalist with the Singing Sergeants. Originally from Lake Jackson, Texas, he joined the United States Air Force in 2023.
Prior to joining the Air Force, he portrayed the principal role of Gleb in the National Tour of the Broadway musical, Anastasia. Known for his extensive work in contemporary opera, Sgt Edquist originated numerous roles of major American composers, including Manfred in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Out of Darkness with Atlanta Opera, Mayo Buckman in Tom Cipullo’s Mayo, Walter Raleigh in Gregory Spears’ O Columbia! and the title role in Carlisle Floyd’s final opera, Prince of Players, with Houston Grand Opera. He has also been featured in premieres with Garsington Opera in the United Kingdom and at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
Other notable performances include Georg Novak in She Loves Me and Hawkins Fuller in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera, Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd with Des Moines Metro Opera, Jigger Craigin in Carousel and Papageno in The Magic Flute with The Glimmerglass Festival, as well as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Older Thompson in Glory Denied, the Pilot in The Little Prince, and Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Houston Grand Opera.
Sgt. Edquist is the 2014 grand prize winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition and a 2016 recipient of the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation Singer Award. He was a young artist with the Glimmerglass Festival and both a Studio Artist and Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera.
Sgt. Edquist received his Bachelor of Music from Vanderbilt University and his Master of Music from Rice University before becoming a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.