Nathan T. Gunn (born November 26, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana) is an American operatic baritone who performs regularly around the world. He graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is now a professor of voice there.
He has performed at many famous opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, the Dallas Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Pittsburgh Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, The Royal Opera in London, the Paris Opéra, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. He has also performed at the Glyndebourne Festival near London, the Ravinia Festival near Chicago, and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York City. In 2011, Gunn performed as a guest in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s annual Christmas concert in Salt Lake City, where 80,000 people watched. The concert was shown on PBS and released as an album in 2012 called Once Upon a Christmas.
In August 2015, Gunn performed in the first production of a new opera, Cold Mountain, by Jennifer Higdon. The opera is based on the 1997 novel Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Earlier, Gunn performed in productions of Béatrice et Bénédict by Berlioz in 1998 and Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss in 1999 at The Santa Fe Opera.
Gunn is known for his singing and acting skills. He has also gained attention for his appearance, which is unusual for an opera singer. People have called him a "barihunk," but he prefers the term "hunkitone." In 2008, he was listed in People magazine’s "The Sexiest Men Alive."
In 2007, Gunn became a professor with a permanent position at the University of Illinois School of Music. In 2013, he was named general director of the Lyric Theater @ Illinois. In 2012, the Opera Company of Philadelphia appointed him director of its American Repertoire Council, which promotes new American operas. His wife, Julie Jordan Gunn, who earned a doctorate in vocal coaching and accompanying from the University of Illinois, is also an associate professor in collaborative piano at the university.