Bryan Hymel has become one of the few American tenors in the history of opera to receive a recording contract with a major label. 

On April 29, the tenor from New Orleans announced that he would be making his recording debut with Warner Classics, formerly known as EMI Classics. According to the press release, he has received an exclusive recording contract and first album will be released in early 2015.

Alain Lanceron, President  of Warner Classics, stated, "With a series of exceptional performances that have captured the hearts of audiences around the world -- most notably at London's Royal Opera House and New York's Metropolitan Opera -- Bryan Hymel has rapidly established himself as a leading light among the new generation of tenors. We are therefore delighted to launch our relationship with this accomplished and distinctive artist with an album of French arias."

The contract comes as a bit of a surprise given the lack of American opera singers with record contracts in recent years. Over the past few years, the majority of the artists who have signed contracts with the major companies have all been European or Latin American. The few exceptions have been women including Renee Fleming, who has been with Decca Classics since the '90s, and Joyce Didonato, who signed an exclusive deal with Virgin Classics a few years ago. American rising stars Stephen Costello and Ayleen Perez recently signed deals with Warner Classics, but interestingly enough they were not given solo albums. Instead, they debuted with a duet album, which could be a sign that Warner Classics will try to sell these two artists as a brand and not individually. The company had a successful run back in the '90s and early 2000s with Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu as they recorded a number operas and duet albums together.

In today's market, where independent labels are appearing quickly and where content is being released on streaming services, the exclusive contract seems superfluous and very difficult to obtain. Record companies are selective with the artists they sign and the image is an important component to the market. However, the reason these companies continue to survive is due to the power and exposure they can get an artist.  

Hymel's contract is a step forward for today's American singers who have for some reason not attracted the major record labels such as Sony, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, and Warner Classics. 

Over the past few years, a number of great American tenors have had breakthroughs in the industry, including Matthew Polenzani, Charles Castronovo, James Valenti, Michael Fabiano and Lawrence Brownlee. However, the major recording labels have largely ignored their talent and instead went for foreign tenors, including Piotr Beczala, Vittorio Grigolo, Juan Diego Florez, Joseph Calleja, Rolando Villazon and Jonas Kaufmann. The later tenors have all gone on to have huge followings, which is mainly due to the promotion these labels give them.

Hymel has increasingly become a fixture at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera. He recently won an Olivier from his performances at the Royal Opera in Dvorak's "Rusalka" Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" and Berlioz's "Les Troyens" and also won the Beverly Sills Award. Next season, he has number of high-profile debuts and performances including his role debut as Percy in Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and a number of performances at the Met in Puccini's "La Boheme." However, his status does not rank as high as the European and Hispanic tenors at the moment. With this new record label, that may completely change. Warner Classics is known for giving singers prevalent marketing campaigns and creating buzz on magazines and different press outlets. If his new album is able to create the sales the European tenors have obtained, Hymel could change the landscape for American Tenors in the future.