Reader Submission: Australian barihunk Jeremy Kleeman

Jeremy Kleeman as Magus (right)

A reader introduced us to Jeremy Kleeman, a graduate of Victorian Opera's Developing Artist Program, who is performing Magus in the world premiere of Voyage to the Moon. The piece was inspired by the epic poem Orlando furioso using a pastiche of music by Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann and Gluck, with new words by Michael Gow.

Kleeman has a Master of Music in Opera Performance and a Bachelor of Music from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He has been a regular on the Victorian Opera stage since his debut with the company in 2008. He has performed Rapunzel’s Prince in Into the Woods, Marquis D’Obiginy in La traviata, Lord Valton in I puritani, and Albert the Pudding in the Green Room Award-winning world premiere The Magic Pudding – The Opera. 

Jeremy Kleeman sings "Aprite un po’quegli occhi" from Marriage of Figaro:

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Kleeman previously sung in another baroque opera when he performed Teobaldo in Handel's Faramondo for the Brisbane Baroque Festival, which won five Helpmann Awards including Best Opera. He has twice been a finalist at the IFAC Australian Singing Competition and was as a finalist at the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria, Australia's premiere oratorio competition, placing as the joint runner-up and winning the People's Choice Award. In 2014 Jeremy won the Welsh Male Choir Singer of the Year.

In Voyage to the Moon, the great warrior Orlando has fallen into a deep madness. His friend Astolfo travels to the heavens with the mysterious Magus to find a cure and discovers the moon is home to many lost things including Orlando’s sanity. But first he must convince the all-powerful Guardian of the Moon, Selena, that Orlando is worth saving.

Performances of Voyage to the Moon at the Victorian Opera remain on February 18 and 19 and tickets are available online.