André Courville, Erik Anstine and Brian James Myer
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced its 2020 season, which includes Mozart's Don Giovanni starring the barihunk trio of André Courville in the title role, Erik
Anstine as Leoporello and Brian James Myer as Masetto. They will be joined by Laura Wilde as Donna Anna, Joshua Blue as Don
Ottavio, Joanna Latini as Donna Elvira, John Cheek as the Commendatore and Natalia Santaliz as Zerlina.
The new production will be directed by co-founder Jonathan Loy and conducted by artistic
director Brian Garman. The production will include scenic designs by
Stephen Dobay, costumes by Charles Caine, and lighting Alex Jainchill.
The production will open on August 22 with additional performances on the 25th and 28th at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Tickets and additional information is available online.
Erik Anstine can next be seen as Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Opera Omaha on February 7 and 9. André Courville can be heard as Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the Kentucky Opera from February 14-16. Brian James Myer will be Mercutio in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Knoxville Opera from February 14-29.
The New York City Opera continues its Pride Initiative of producing an LGBT-focused work each June in commemoration of Gay Pride Month with the premiere of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's Stonewall. ” The opera will be performed at Rose Hall,at Jazz at Lincoln Center, on June 21, 22 (matinee and evening), June 27 and June 29.
The opera features the barihunk duo of Joseph Charles Beutel as Troy and Brian James Myer as Carlos, a Dominican-American English teacher recently fired from a Catholic school.
Stonewall will be the first opera to feature a transgender character specially created for a transgender singer when Liz Bouk takes the stage as Sarah. Liz identifies as male and lives as a trans man.
The opera captures the rage, grit, humor and hope of the nascent LGBTQ movement. On a hot night in 1969, a cross-section of characters find themselves thrown together in a Greenwich Village dance club with explosive results that give birth to a movement.
The cast also includes Andrew Bidlack as Andy, Lisa Chavez as Maggie, Michael Corvino as Sal, Jessica Fischenfeld as Leah, Marc Heller as Larry, Jordan Weatherston Pitts as Renata and Justin Ryan as Edward. Tickets are available online.
The New York City Opera will premiere Ted Rosenthal's Holocaust themed opera Dear Erich on January 9th, with performances running through January 13th. The opera was inspired by 200 recently discovered letters written in Germany between 1938 and 1941 by Herta Rosenthal to her son Erich, the composer's father.
Barihunk Brian James Myer will be making his company debut as Young Erich, in a cast that also includes fellow barihunk Peter Kendall Clark as the Older Erich, hunkentenor Glenn Seven Allen as Freddy, Jessica Tyler Wright as Herta and Rachel Zatcoff as Lili. Tickets are available online.
Glenn Seven Allen(photo as honorary tenor in Barihunks calendar)
The title character was a Jewish academic who escaped Nazi Germany to the U.S. shortly before Kristallnacht. The opera tells the story of his family's dual fates, including Erich's journey to a new life in the new world - his studies, jazz and love - while the situation deteriorates in Germany and his family ultimately meets their cruel demise at the hands of the Nazis. Frustrated and powerless to help them emigrate, Erich must live with deep survivor guilt which affects him in his relationships with his wife and children.
The opera has had workshops at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, New York City Opera and the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts.
Barihunk Brian James Myer will take on the role of Mercutio in the Hawaii Opera Theatre's new production of Gounod's Romeo & Juliet. Soprano Amanda Woodbury, who sang the role at The Met will sing Juliet, in a cast that also includes Derek Taylor as Romeo, Alyssa Martin as Stephano, Jamie Offenbach as Frère Laurent, Carlos Enrique Santell as Tybalt and Blythe Kelsey as Gertrude.
The opera was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on April 27, 1867 and is most notable for the series of four duets for the main characters and the Juliet's oft-performed waltz song "Je veux vivre."
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has inspired all kinds of music, including songs, operas, symphonic poems, Broadway musicals and film scores. Perhaps the most famous musical example is Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story. Remarkably, there are dozens of operas based on the story, but only Gounod's has consistently remained in the repertory. In fact, Brian James Myer just performed in est Side Story at the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Performances are on October 12, 14 and 16 and tickets are available HERE.
The Timucua Arts Foundation and Opera Orlando have joined forces for “One Voice Orlando,” a benefit concert for Proyecto Somos Orlando. The organization brought the Latino and LGBTQ community together to provide social services and mental health care after the devastating shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016. Proceeds will also be directed to those in need after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico.
The shooting at the gay bar was one of deadliest mass shootings by a single gunman in U.S. history, and the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the events of September 11, 2001, killing 49 people and injuring another 53.
Gabriel Preisser, Brian James Myer and Nathan Stark sing
"Can't Help Falling In Love WIth You":
Opera Orlando is providing the talent for the show, including barihunks Brian James Myer and Nathan Stark, who will be joined by soprano Maria Laetitia Hernandez. Selections will include “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from Les Miserables, “No Puede Ser" and selections from Zarzuela.
The event is on Sunday, November 4th at the Timucua White House in Orlando. Tickets are available online. Those wishing to donate can visit the Proyecto Somos Orlando website.
Derek Chester & Marco Vassalli from Barihunks Calendar and Book
Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for
purchase HERE.
In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book
this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the
calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!
Darren Stokes discussing Barihunks on KITV television
KITV television in Honolulu, Hawaii featured Barihunks on their news yesterday. The feature not only highlighted our ten years in the opera blogosphere, but was a promotion for Hawaii Opera Theatre's current production of Bizet's Carmen, which features three barihunks. We recently ran a post about the production. You can watch the entire segment HERE.
Carmen will feature Darren Stokes singing the role of Escamillo, joined by fellow barihunks Matthew Treviño as Zuniga and Brian James Myer as El Dancaïro. Stokes discusses the need to hit the gym to keep in shape for the physicality of the role, while Treviño talks about spikes to his website when he's featured on the site, and Myer talks about the need for singers to be promoted.
The cast for Carmen also includes Kate Aldrich in the title role, Kip Wilborn as Don José and the stunning Talise Trevigne as Micaëla. There are remaining performances on October 15 and 17, and tickets are available online.
Derek Chester and Marco Vassalli from the 2018 Barihunks Calendar
Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for
purchase HERE.
In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book
this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the
calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!
Darren Stokes will be singing the role of Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen at the Hawaii Opera Theatre, joined by fellow barihunks Matthew Treviño as Zuniga and Brian James Myer as El Dancaïro.
Bass-barihunk Darren Stokes, who was a chemist before singing opera full-time, is new to the site. He is an alumnus of the Ryan Opera Center of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was awarded the Leo M. Rogers Scholarship for Outstanding Apprentice at the Sarasota Opera. This season he toured Germany as Crown in Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, a role he reprised that season in Ithica, New York. He made his mainstage debut at the New York City Opera as Sciarrone in Puccini's Tosca and toured as Escamillo with the company throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Darren Stokes
The cast for Carmen also includes Kate Aldrich in the title role, Kip Wilborn as Don José and the stunning Talise Trevigne as Micaëla. Performances are on October 13, 15 and 17, and tickets are available online.
The 2018 Barihunk Calendar and Photo Book
Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for
purchase HERE.
In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book
this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the
calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!
Brian James Myer, Colin Ramsey and Matthew Hanscom
Opera San Jose's upcoming performance of Puccini's La boheme will feature the barihunk trio of Matthew Hanscom as Marcello, Colin Ramsey as Colline and Brian James Myer as Schaunard. There will be six performances from April 15-30, including three with budding soprano superstar Julie Adams as Mimi.
The opera will be updated the end of WWI, when Paris was delirious with
optimism for the new century and great artists like Nijinsky, Stravinsky, Picasso and
Coco Channel were creating a new way of life in the art's capital of the world.
The barihunk trio also appeared together in Opera San Jose's production of Kevin Puts' Silent Night, with Colin Ramsey as Father Palmer, Brian James Myer as Ponchel and Matthew Hanscom as Matthew Hanscom as Lt. Gordon.
The April 23rd performance will also feature a pre-performance brunch in the elegant courtyard of the California Theatre. Tickets for La boheme and the brunch are available online.
Back in August, we featured barihunks Nathan Stark, Gabriel Preisser and Brian James Myer who were performing "The Three Baritones" concert for Opera Orlando's annual "Opera in the Park" concert. Now they're back for a "Three Baritone Christmas" concert and a new CD of holiday favorites. The CD will be out by Nov 21st and available for purchase on CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon.
They will be performing on the other side of the country in Bellevue, Washington at Resonance in the SOMA Towers on December 1st and 3rd. Tickets are available HERE for the first show and HERE for the second performance. They will also be performing music from opera and Broadway.
Brian James Myer will be appearing with Opera San José as Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville from November 12-22 and Ponchel in Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night from February 11-24. Fellow barihunk Colin Ramsey will be singing Basilio in the Barber of Seville, while the cast of Silent Night includes a veritable feast of barihunks and hunkentenors, including Kirk Dougherty as Nikolaus Sprink, Ricardo Rivera as Lt. Audebert, Matthew Hanscom as Lt. Gordon, Kyle Albertson as Lt. Horstmayer, Colin Ramsey as Father Palmer, John Lindsey as Jonathan Dale, Nathan Stark as General Audebert, Christopher Bengochea as Kronprinz, Branch Fields as William Dale and Vitali Rozynko as the British Major.
The Barihunks in Bed calendar, which celebrates our 10th Anniversary is now on sale. Get your copy before the holiday rush by clicking on the lulu button.
Brian James Myer, Nathan Stark and Gabriel Preisser (L-R)(Photo: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)
On August 28th, Opera Orlando's annual "Opera in the Park" will feature a "The Three Baritones" concert starring Brian James Myer, Nathan Stark and Gabriel Preisser.
We introduced Myer to readers back in December, when he joined the 2016 Chautauqua Opera Young Artists after he had performed the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Florida Grand Opera. The multi-talented young artist was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he studied piano, flute, cello, guitar, and
voice. He's also a published composer of choral music. Myer will be returning to Opera San Jose this season to perform in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Kevin Puts' Silent Night and Puccini's La bohème.
Gabriel Presser has been a regular on our site since 2010 and we've featured him in singing competitions, starring in the world premiere of Kevin Puts' award-winning opera Silent Night, in webcasts and his new role as the impresario of Opera Orlando.
Gabriel Preisser sings Largo al factotum:
Nathan Stark has appeared on our site, but has never been featured. It was Stark's idea to assemble the three singers for the concert. The California native, who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, is making a number of company debuts this season, including at Tulsa Opera as Colline in La bohème, Hawaii Opera Theatre as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and at Fort Worth Opera in The Gravedigger in Buried Alive and Montressor in Embedded.
The concert starts at 2 PM at the University Club of Winter Park in Orlando. Tickets are available online. Opera Orlando's season kicks off on November 18 and 20 with Donizetti's Don Pasquale, followed by Giancarlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors for the Christmas holiday and wrapping up with Mozart's Don Giovanni with Preisser in the title role.
Opera San José is adding four new singers to its roster for the 2016-17 season, including barihunks Brian James Meyer and Colin Ramsey. Ramsey is familiar to our readers, having appeared numerous times, but Meyer is making his debut. The company is a resident company that keeps singers on its roster for the season like many European houses.
However, Brian James Myer is not new to Opera San José, having performed Masetto in Don Giovanni during the 2013-14 season, Angelotti in Tosca in
2015-16 season, Alessandro/Enrico in the world
premiere of Where Angels Fear to Tread and the Second Priest in The Magic
Flute.
Meyer made his debut with the Florida Grand Opera this season. He has also performed Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with Sarasota Opera, Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni Opera Las Vegas, Yakuside in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Albert in Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe with Chautauqua Opera. This season at Florida Grand Opera, he will be seen as Figaro in performances of
Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
Brian James Myer
He holds a bachelors’ degrees in music education and romance languages from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a master’s degree in vocal performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also a composer who has published a choral octavo that was performed by Santa Barbara Music.
Bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey will be performing Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville with Opera San José. On May 22, he'll be performing the National Anthem at the USA Water Polo Olympic Trials at the University of Southern California.
Colin Ramsey sings the Catalog Aria from Don Giovanni:
He has performed Mr. Kofner in Menotti's The Consul at both the Seattle Opera and Opera Santa Barbara. He made his debut with the Austin Lyric Opera as Il Frate
in Verdi's Don Carlo, as well as his debut with Green Mountain Opera
Festival as Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola. He has also performed
with Austin Lyric Opera, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pacific Music Works, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
and Wolf Trap Opera.
Ramsey is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where he sang Giorgio in the US Premiere of Paisiello’s Nina, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. He recently took 3rd Prize in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Brian James Myer, who is new to our site, is joining Hans Tashjian as one of the 2016 Chautauqua Opera Young Artists. Myer just wrapped up a run as the title character in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Florida Grand Opera, which was his debut with the company. He will return to Florida Grand Opera this Spring to cover both Tadeusz in Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger and Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale.
Myer was born in Tarzana, California and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he began piano lessons at age nine. He subsequently studied flute, cello, guitar, and
voice.
Recent engagements include Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Sin City Opera and Opera San Jose, Gino Carella in Mark Lanz Weiser's Where Angels Fear to Tread with Opera San Jose, Silvio in Leoncavallo'sPagliacci with Sarasota Opera, Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Opera San Jose and Opera Las Vegas, Yamadori in Puccini's Madama Butterfly with Opera Las Vegas, Albert in Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe with Chautauqua Opera, and Le Dancaïre in Bizet's Carmen with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada.
Brian James Myer sings Papageno's suicide aria:
Myer won first place prizes at the National Association
of Teachers of Singing competitions in both Nevada and Ohio. He
received two young artist encouragement awards from Chautauqua Opera and
is a recipient of the Albert Rees Davis Scholarship from The Singers
Club of Cleveland He was also a regional finalist in the NATS Artist
Award (Cal-Western Region) and a semifinalist in the American Institute
of Musical Studies Meistersinger competition.
Myer volunteered for the music program with the Clark County School
District and served as a middle school choir teacher. He
participated in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Outreach Program, bringing
opera to over 13,500 students in the Coachella Valley. He is also a
published composer, whose choral octavo can be found and purchased at Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc.
ONLY 8 DAYS UNTIL THE NEW YEAR! Time is running out to order your 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar,
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