 One of Tanner's first breaks came from the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, which signed him in 1994 to sing the title role in the rarely performed "Edgar" by Puccini.Tanner has since starred in a variety of leading roles in major opera houses, including "Pagliacci" in La Monnaie, Brussels, "Cavaradossi" in the Minnesota Orchestra production of "Tosca", and Radames (alongside soprano Angela Brown) in Opera Pacific's "Aida".After performances with the Washington National Opera in their 2004-2005 season productions of "Samson and Delilah" and "Il Trovatore", he returned to Santa Fe to sing "Calaf" in "Turandot" during the company's 2005 summer season.