The bass François Loup, singer, actor and stage director, made his international début at the 1974 Spoleto Festival at the invitation of Gian Carlo Menotti. His reputation rapidly grew and he first performed in Washington, DC in 1981. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera of New York since 1992, where he has given more than a hundred performances in major rôles, including Bartolo (Mozart and Rossini), Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore, Sulpice in The Daughter of the Regiment, the Sacristan in Tosca, Benoît and Alcindoro in La Bohème, Frank in Die Fledermaus and the Majordomo in Strauss's Capriccio.

He has performed with the Florentine Opera, New Israeli Opera, Dallas Opera, Canadian Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Washington Opera, Opera Bastille of Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and in cities all over the world including Lyon, Nantes, Strasbourg, Rouen, Toulouse, Madrid, Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Prague, Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence, Rome, Spoleto and Bologna. He has recorded for Erato, CBS, Philips, Accord and NVC. He is an associate professor at the University of Maryland.