Barihunk and fitness guru Michael Hewitt has written an e-book called Cheat Codes, which is about getting a lean body, focusing your mind and having unlimited energy. We interviewed him to find out what motivated him to write the book and learn a little more about what he's doing professionally.[All photos from Hewitt's Instagram: michaelhewitt23]
1. What inspired you to write the book?
The fitness industry is rife with even more obfuscation than the Young Artist industry.
Buying Fit Teas and doing Whole 30 once per year isn’t delivering meaningful and significant results. People are missing out on living life because they are sold false truths about what it takes to build a body you can feel at home in.
I wrote Cheat Codes to simplify complex fitness ‘hacks’ into a way that everyone could understand them, and take advantage of them. I believe an awesome body should complement your life, not run it, and I want to share that with anyone seeking solutions.
Michael Hewitt
2 Your path to fitness involves a failed relationship, which seems to be a common thread with guys who get into fitness. Why do you think that is?
Women aren’t the only people who feel societal pressure to transform their bodies. Lots of women, for example, cite the Victoria’s Secret catalogue/fashion show as a standard they feel hard pressed to live up to: if they aren’t as skinny and made up as those women, they are made to feel “less than”. In my experience, it’s much the same with guys: all of our action figures are jacked, the heroes in the movies are jacked, and major cultural icons-The Rock, Hollywood A-listers, athletic legends-are all in fantastic shape. Chris Pratt went from lovable sidekick to bonafide movie star when he got serious about his body.
A note on this: I don’t think this is “unhealthy”. Pedestalizing the exception is the rule. No one celebrates average, and no one should. No one’s carves a statue of the stereotypical Dad-Bod.
So, anyway, for a lot of young men, validation and attention (or lack thereof) gets correlated with ones own level of fitness.
The rejection I mention in Cheat Codes (though there were a fair amount) was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me: I had unfatted myself during high school, kept weight off, and added a little bit of muscle to my frame. I was even proud of how I looked, for a time.
While of course the real loss is hers, at that time, I thought the only reason I was being rejected was because I didn’t look like the aforementioned American heroes: wide V-taper back, popping 8-pack, and armor-plated chest.
While that’s not true, what I call “former fat-kid syndrome” (a type of body dysmorphia where you still identify as fat when you’re actually quite lean) still had me in it’s clutches. I thought that if I could make myself look like THAT, then I’d never have that pain again. (I was wrong, but I did get transform massively-the Statue Jacked program was largely based on what I learned in that period).
Michael Hewitt
3. Why is it just as important for singers to train their bodies, as it is their voice?
There’s a million reasons, but I’ll give you the inside scoop on the best ones.
The saddest thing in the world is a voice that is past it’s prime and a shell of it’s former beauty and power, right? I want to extend the timeline of my voice and performing career as long as possible. So if you want your voice to stay flexible and pliable and beautiful, wouldn’t you start with working on the body? Singing is also a muscular endeavor. Muscular, but not maximal. That’s the real key to having any real hope at appoggio, I think: you’ve got to have strength, but also have strength to not give everything, to not overdo. I would rather be extraordinarily well-armed than bare fisted for a battle like that.
It’s important that everyone know about the ability and limits of their body. After all, you interact in the world. You don’t want to be coming up shorty when you need yourself most. More important still, do you know the limits of your mind?
What other endeavor can challenge the two of them both powerfully and simultaneously?
What is that you have to say to yourself, what inner demons must be fought and burned for fuel, to get you through the last sprint without slowing down? What do you prove to yourself by respecting your self enough to build your body?
Through training, you learn to bet on yourself. You learn about the timeline of things, and develop respect for proper maturation.
Firsthand, you see the rewards of focused reps. The deliveries of diligence as you see yourself improve.
You learn that you are STRONG. That you cannot be so easily shoved into the mud. That you’ve the courage to stand and fight with the body to back it up.
Think about how that would change you, inform you, as a person and performer. Wouldn’t you be better off onstage for it?
Would that change how you walk into an audition room? Your confidence at parties and events? Your ease and fluidity onstage?
Wouldn’t that help you in your career?
Michael Hewitt in Silent Night (right)
4. One common criticism we hear about singers who work out is that is will restrict their diaphragm and make singing more difficult. Any truth to this?
Sure, only if you broaden the scope of blame to include 1) bad vocal advice and 2) poor practice habits or 3) always being a mediocre singer, but only getting attention because the company sought body over voice.
Singing is a lot easier when you’re strong as hell.
Michael Hewitt
5. What is the key to discipline in training the voice or the body?
You’ve got to be committed to the big picture: that through mastery of your craft you gain mastery of self.
Michael Hewitt
6. What's the latest with your vocal career?
I’m having a blast. I had a packed summer at Glimmerglass. It was a lot of fun. Played Lt. Horstmayer in a production I’m really proud of, played Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, and played Diesel in Francesca [Zambella]’s new production of West Side Story. I got to do the original Jerome Robbins choreo for that too. It was really cool to be a part of that show. I’m such a fan of Leonard Bernstein, and this whole year I’ve been eating off his great music, so I feel blessed for that. That particular show we worked with David Charles Abell, who was his last protegé, and Julio Monge, who worked closely with Robbins. And here I am, separated by only degree at the intersection of these TITANS, a guy who fan girls over them both. So it was a trip.
This season, I’ve got a little fest at WNO. I’m really excited about it. I’m officially a Domingo-Cafritz alum, so to be able to go right back to where I consider home to be a principal artist is a warm feeling.
In October, I played Baron Douphol at WNO, and that was another experience that I’m still really jazzed over. I got to hear and be a part of a world-class interpretation of one of the greatest works in the whole of creation for almost two months. That’s so cool. I really almost had an out-of-body experience before my first line. I was like “dude, you’re about to sing a solo line of Verdi front and center at WNO. You do this, there’s no going back-you’re an opera singer”. And I was with a cast of just BALLER performers, and two baritones I idolize, [Michael] Chioldi and [Lucas] Meachem. I learned so much talking to those guys and picking their brains and watching them do their thing.
We just wrapped up Silent Night (same production, by Tomer Zvulun, which is gorgeous and impactful, and third time this year I got to work with Nicole [Paiement], who just brings the score to life), which was a big hit. Up next is Angelotti in Tosca. I’m really looking forward to seeing Faust and Onegin, though.
I’ve been really fortunate to be able to work with some really great guys in my coaching program this year, too. One fit back into his favorite suit, another guy shed his shirt at the pool without any hesitation…I just started working with a few more who are crushing it. I’m excited about that. It’s hard to get in but worth it for the right people.
And while it’s free (going to be $100 soon) you gotta get Cheat Codes. Get that HERE.
If you have any questions about what I’ve been saying, if you love it, or if you want to send some hate my way, connect with me @michaelhewitt23 on IG and Twitter, and/or let’s connect on FB.
Barihunk and fitness guru Michael Hewitt will portray Lt Horstmayer in the Glimmerglass Festival's production of Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night. The cast also includes Conor McDonald as Ponhel, Jonathan Bryan as Lt Gordon, Wm. Clay Thompson as Father Palmer, Brian Wallin as the German General, Michael Miller as Lt Audebert, Mary Hangley as Anna Sørensen, Arnold Livingston Geis as Nikolaus Sprink, Christian Sanders as Jonathan Dale, Kayla Siembieda as Madeleine Audebert, Tim Bruno as General Audebert and Dale Travis as the British Major. Nicole Paiement will conduct.
Performances run from July 15 – August 23 and tickets are available online.
Silent Night at Glimmerglass(Image: Glimmerglass Festival)
The opera is based on the screenplay Joyeux Noël
by Christian Carion and recounts a miraculous moment of peace during one
of the bloodiest wars in human history. On WWI’s western front,
Scottish, French and German officers defy their superiors and
negotiate a Christmas Eve truce. Enemies become brothers as they share
Christmas and bury their dead.
The Minnesota Opera presented the world premiere of Silent Night
in November 2011 with a cast that included barihunks Craig Irvin as
Lieutenant Horstmayer, Gabriel Preisser as Lieutenant Gordon, Mike Nyby
as William Dale, Liam Bonner as Lieutenant Audebert, Troy Cook as
Father Palmer, Joseph Beutel as the British Major, Ben Wager as the
General and Andrew Wilkowske as Ponchel.
The opera has also been performed at the Washington National Opera, Opera North, Austin Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Fort Worth Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Calgary Opera, Atlanta Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Piedmont Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Opera de Montreal.
Jarrett Ott, Michael Hewitt, Jarrett Porter and Brent Michael Smith (left) and Justin Austin (right)
Once again, director Francesca Zambello has deservedly landed on our site. Longtime readers know that most opera lovers credit her with beginning the barihunk craze and coining the phrase after having Nathan Gunn appear shirtless in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride. Now she may have created the largest single gathering of barihunks ever assembled at the Glimmerglass Festival, where she is the Artistic & General Director, as well as the stage director for Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Donizetti's The Siege of Calais and Ben Moore's Robin Hood.
Norman Garrett in Glimmerglass' Porgy and Bess
There are at least a dozen barihunks who we know of in the various casts and probably a handful more that we've not been made aware of yet. Most of them have appeared on this site in the past. The Glimmerglass artists include:
Norman Garrett as Crown in Porgy and Bess
Brent Michael Smith as the cop in Porgy and Bess; Ariodates in Handel's Xerxes; and the Commentator in Derrick Wang's Scalia/Ginsburg.
Zach Owen as the English Spy in The Siege of Calais and the detective in Porgy and Bess.
Jarrett Ott as Curly in Oklahoma!
Michael Hewitt as Jud Fry in Oklahoma! and Edoardo III in The Siege of Calais
Harry Greenleaf as Cord Elam in Oklahoma!
Jarrett Porter as Sam in Oklahoma!
Justin Austin as Jake inPorgy and Bess
Calvin Griffin as the Undertaker in Porgy and Bess and Elviro in Xerxes
Conor McDonald as Skidmore in Oklahoma!
Eric Shane covering roles in Oklahoma! andPorgy and Bess
The festival opened July 7th and runs through August 22. Additional cast information and tickets are available online.
POST UPDATE: We heard from some of the singers at Glimmerglass that we may have missed a few singers, including Makoto Winkler, Nicholas Davi, Carl DuPont and Adrian Timpau. We also made some casting updates to the list above.
Bradley Smoak, Michael Hewitt, Tony Potts & Philip Kalmanovitch
Bass-barihunk Bradley Smoak walked away with the $20,000 Grand Prize at this year's Lotte Lenya Competition. Smoak's winning set included Kurt Weill's “This is the Life” from Love Life, “Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni” from Bellini's La sonnambula, “Higher Than a Hawk” from Calamity Jane, and “Me” from Beauty and the Beast.
It was a good year all around for barihunks, as Tony Potts and former barihunks calendar models Philip Kalmanovitch and Michael Hewitt also were awarded $3000 Special Prizes.
Bradley Smoak's winning set:
Contestants were required to prepare four selections: an aria from the opera or operetta repertoire; two songs from the American musical theater repertoire (one from the pre-1968 "Golden Age" and one from 1968 or later); and a theatrical selection by Kurt Weill.
Philip Kalmanovitch at the Lotte Lenya competition:
Michael Hewitt at the Lotte Lenya competition:
Tony Potts at the Lotte Lenya competition:
Held annually by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest that recognizes talented young singer-actors, ages 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire, and emphasizes the acting of songs and arias within a dramatic context.
Previous winners of the Lotte Lenya competition will be familiar to our readers, including barihunks Lucas Meachem, Liam Bonner and Jonathan Michie, Doug Carpenter, as well as tenor Noah Stewart.
Thank you again to our readers, who keep this site alive and thriving. Your purchases of our calendars and tee shirts goes to supporting young artists and opera projects.
BEST NEW OPERA (tie): Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves
John Moore, Kiera Duffy and the cast of Breaking the Waves
Barihunk John Moore performed in the premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia and then reprised his role at the PROTOTYPE Festival along
with co-star Kiera Duffy.
The
opera is based on the Oscar-nominated 1996 film by Lars von Trier and tells of the story of a woman's sexual desires and confessions after her husband becomes paralyzed. The opera was performed with a "mature audience" warning in Philadelphia, as it involved nudity from the leads. More importantly, the opera is a riveting piece of theater.
BEST NEW OPERA (tie): JFK at Forth Worth Opera
Daniel Okulitch as LBJ and Matt Worth as JFK
The Fort Worth Opera, in
collaboration with the American Lyric Theater, debuted David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's JFK in April to rave reviews. The opera, which starred barihunks Matthew Worth as JFK and Daniel Okulitch as LBJ, tells of the final twelve hours of President John F. Kennedy's life. Okulitch performed a memorable and scene stealing, comic piece stripped down to his Texas flag inspired underwear.
Fort Worth was a fitting setting for the opera, as it was the last place that the
President slept before being gunned down in Dallas. JFK left the Hotel
Texas (now the Fort Worth Hilton) on the rain-soaked morning of November
22, 1963, and spoke to thousands who had waited in the rain to hear him
speak. Those remarks were to be his final public speech.
HOTTEST NEW BARIHUNK TO THE SITE: Basque Barihunk Vincent Simonet
Basque barihunk Vincent Simonet
Our hearts starting racing when we saw these pictures of Basque barihunk Vincent Simonet by photographer and fellow barihunk JF l'Oiseleur des Longchamps. Simonet is a decendent of the famous 19th century baritone Paul Barroilhet (aka
Paolo Barroilhet), whose bust still graces the Opera Garnier in Paris.
This summer he performed Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Centre Européen de Musique. He was asked by French composer Philippe Mazé to sing at the 100-year anniversary of the Cathedral of Monaco (Saint Nicholas Cathedral). The cathedral is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monaco where many of the Grimaldis are buried, including Prince Rainier III and his wife Grace Kelly.
Simonet is also one of the initiators of the charity recital "Ensemble pour les Enfants Malades" (Recital for the Sick Children) which is a benefit for the Pediatric Immuno-Hematology Department at the Hôpital Necker de Paris. We love a barihunk who does charity work!
HOTTEST PERFORMANCE: Hadleigh Adams in Powder Her Face at West Edge Opera
Hadleigh Adams as The Duke in Powder Her Face
West Edge Opera, situated across the Bay from it's big budget sister San Francisco Opera, continues to make waves with the most innovative and thrilling productions anywhere. Under the inspired leadership of Mark Streshinsky they have made the Top 10 lists of virtually every music critic on the West Coast. Their productions, which take place in old abandoned train station (where portions of the movie RENT were filmed), are so popular that they often have to add performances.
Such was the case with Thomas Adès' provocative Powder Her Face starring barihunk Hadleigh Adams, hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and sexy soprano Emma McNairy, who previously made waves with her sizzling Lulu with the company. Adams sang the roles of the vapid Duke (for which he strips down completely!), the condescending hotel manager, and the hypocritical judge who condemns the Duchess.
The opera was brilliantly directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer, which the Financial Times dubbed "buoyant" and "exhilirating."
Upcoming performance for Adams include Jonathan Dove's Flight with Opera Parallèle and Puccini's La fanciulla del West with the Michigan Opera Theater.
Ryan McKinny as Amfortas
We have to give a close runner-up mention to Ryan McKinny as Amfortas in Bayreuth's Parsifal. If you can look this sexy in a "man diaper" then you deserve some credit.
BEST BARIHUNK CHARITY WORK: Michael Hewitt/Cancer Research
Michael Hewitt (from our calendar and buffing up for charity work!)
Barihunk Michael Hewitt took to crowd sourcing to raise $3000 for The Decath10n, which raised money for pediatric cancer research at the University of Texas MD Anderson
Cancer Center in Houston. (Full disclosure: Barihunks contributed to the effort).
Michael is also featured in July in our 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar. He will make his company debut with the Glimmerglass Opera in 2017 in the role of Jud Fry in Oklahoma!
Hewitt also has a fitness website and he says that consistency is the key to staying in shape and that you can't outwork a poor diet.
BEST NEW SOLO WORK FOR BARITONE: Clint Borzoni's Two German Songs for Baritone and String Quartet, sung by Marco Vassalli
Composer Clint Borzoni and barihunk Marco Vassalli worked on this commission over Skype after the German singer chose Hermann Hesse's Stufen and Hilde Domin's Margere Kost for his text. Musica Marin presented the works, which were inspired by adding something other than Samuel Barber's Dover Beach to the repertory for baritone and string quartet. Vassalli performed all three pieces at two sold out concerts in the former home of Ansel Adams in San Francisco.
Borzoni, one of the most talented young composers on the scene is now Musica Marin's "Composer-in-Residence." Barihunk Edward Nelson will perform the composer's new arrangement of his aria "Two Nooses" from his opera When Adonis Calls, arranged for baritone, viola, cello and piano. Borzoni's opera The Copper Queen won the Arizona Opera's award for best new opera.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN AN OPERETTA: Dominik Köninger in Oscar Straus' The Pearls of Cleopatra
Dominik Köninger
What would a Barihunk "Best of..." list be without German barihunk Dominik Köninger? He made our list again by giving the funniest performance of the year as the Roman Officer in Oscar Straus' The Pearls of Cleopatra(Die Perlen der Cleopatra) at the Komische Oper in Berlin.
The operetta has been on the shelves for more than eighty
years and was written before the composer fled the Nazi Anschluss in 1939. As the Roman Officer, Köninger is shown in some pretty sexy situations and there also plenty of scantily clad,
energetic performers on stage, adding to the lively Cabaret feel of the
pre-Nazi Weimar Republic.
The operetta is viewable on the OperaPlatform. We sure hope that someone else produces this work using this Barrie Kosky production, which is perfect in every way.
BEST "OVERNIGHT SENSATION": Björn Bürger
Björn Bürger as Don Giovanni and the Barber
We've been keeping our eye on German barihunk Björn Bürger since 2014, when he caught our eyes and ears at the Mirjam Helin Competition. We continued to be impressed by him as an ensemble member at the Frankfurt Oper, where he performed Pelléas, Schaunard, Plunkett in Martha, Curio in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Frank and Fritz in Die Tote Stadt. Count Almaviva, Masetto and Owen Wingrave. But we really began to take note with his sexy portrayal in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni at Den Norske Opera.
There is no such thing as an overnight sensation, as years of coaching, training and performing goes into any singer's career, but Bürger may have had just such a moment this year. His performance in the title role of Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Glyndebourne Festival was the talk of the town, where his cast mates included Taylor Stayton as Almaviva and Danielle de Niese as Rosina.
The Guardian said that Bürger "dominates with singing of great bravado and warmth," while The Express wrote that he sang "beautifully...and acted with impressive energy.' Mark
Valencia in What's on Stage wrote, "The handsome young baritone exudes
elegant bonhomie and fourth-wall-breaking razzle-dazzle, and he delivers
Rossini's tongue-twisters with an eloquence it would be hard to
better."
BEST APPEARANCE IN AN ADULT MAGAZINE: Edward Miskie in Britain's Mascular Magazine
Edward Miskie (right) in Mascular Magazine
Edward Miskie, who has appeared in our Barihunks Calendar for the last two years, was asked to pose for the UK's erotic art magazine Mascular Magazine. The
magazine is geared toward those who love bears (and we have a ton of readers who fit that category!)
However, Miskie shows more skin in our new calendar than he did in his photoshoot with Brooklyn-based photographer Ron Amato for the magazine's feature entitled "Pride." Whether in a suit or staring out shirtless from his bed, this is one sexy man who holds his own with any of the models in Mascular Magazine. Check it out for yourself.
BEST JOKE THAT WE PLAYED ON READERS: Nathan Gunn and Anna Netrebko appearing in Wagner's Ring at the MET
Nathan Gunn would make one sexy Wotan. Check out that spear.
Barihunk Zachary Luchetti penned an April Fool's Day joke for us claiming that Nathan Gunn and Anna Netrebko would be appearing the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Wagner's Ring as Brünnhilde and Wotan. Luchetti is one of the most entertaining and original personalities in the industry and we loved running with this gag. It was worth it just for the emails from people outraged that this duo would take on role "obviously ill-suited to their voices," as one reader wrote. This is why one should read every post to the end (especially on April 1st).
BEST INTERVIEW: Malte Roesner discussing fitness routineand his fach change
Malte Roesner
When we first met Malte Roesner in France last year, he was singing as a
baritone and wrapping up a decade long run at the Staatstheater
Braunschweig (State Theater of Brunswick). Since that time, he has gone
through a fach change to bass and recently came to California for a series of auditions. We will have an exciting update about his upcoming U.S. debut(s) in a future post. (Yes, debut may be plural).
He is featured prominently in both our 2016 calendar and our "2017 Barihunks in Bed" calendar.Roesner, who is one of the most intelligent singers on the scene, also translates operas, having translated both Jake Heggie's For a Look or a Touch and Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park from English to German.
In our interview with him, the always fascinating singer discussed his recent fach change from baritone to bass, his workout routine, his month-long audition tour in the US and why it's “all about the bass.” You can read the entire interview HERE.
BEST WEIGHT LOSS: Lucas Meachem
Lucas Meachem
When we posted an interview with barihunk Lucas Meachem about his recent weight loss it went viral and jumped to one of our ten most viewed posts ever (and the top post that didn't reveal any "skin")!!!
Prompted by being forced to deal with high cholesterol and the new age of HD opera broadcasts, Meachem took his wife's advice and switched to a plant-based diet, which led to an amazing physical transformation.
When he took the stage as Doctor Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale at the San Francisco Opera, Meachem had slimmed down a remarkable 45 pounds (20.4 kilos). He also sounded as luxurious and resonant as ever.
He told us, "I used to rail against the system for it's
unfairness that weight is even an issue when it came to my voice. For me
vocal prowess should be the main determining factor of an opera singer
but I realized that I couldn't play by those rules anymore. The fact is
it's easier to change yourself than the system. So instead of resisting,
I decided to change myself."
On an unrelated note, Meachem won the San Francisco Opera's inaugural "Emerging Star of the Year" competition, whose goal is to engage the community in
the thrill of experiencing artists on the cusp of greatness, and to
build awareness among the broader opera-going public of San Francisco
Opera's leadership in nurturing and showcasing new talent.
BEST GATHERING OF A BARIHUNK SEXTET IN ONE PLACE (tie): A Midsummer Night's Dream atTeatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona and Lakes Area Music Festival
Prior to 2016, the most barihunks that we had ever featured on one stage at the same time was four. It seemed like this year at least two companies decided to blow that number out of the water, as both the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona and the Lakes Area Music Festival decided to present operas with SIX barihunks performing together.
Zachary Altman and Nicholas Masters (top); Dario Shikhmiri, Rocco Cavalluzzi, Federico Benetti and Paolo Ingrasciotta (bottom l-r)
The cast list for Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream
at the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona, included Zachary Altman as Bottom, Nicholas Masters
as Quince, Dario Shikhmiri as Starveling, Rocco Cavalluzzi as Snug,
Federico Benetti as Theseus and Paolo Ingrasciotta as Demetrius.
Eric Broker, Andrew Lovato, Sam Parkinson, John Taylor Ward, Rodolfo Nieto and Benjamin Sieverding
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe the Lakes Area Music Festival's production of the same opera included John Taylor Ward as Bottom, Andrew Lovato as
Demetrius, Rodolfo Nieto as Theseus, Benjamin Sieverding as Quince, Eric
Broker as Starveling and Sam Parkinson as Snug. John Taylor Ward not
only performed in the opera, but he serves as Associate Artistic Director
of the company and wrote the program notes.
All we have to say for 2017, is bring us more performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
BEST SHIRTLESS APPEARANCE: Alessio Arduini in Così fan tutte
Alessio Arduini in Così fan tutte
We don't know how this site could survive without streaming video from opera houses around the world, as it continues to be an endless source of content and visual and audio excitement.
Imagine our reaction when we watched the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of the Royal Opera House production of Mozart's Così fan tutte with a shirtless Alessio Arduni asGuglielmo. German director Jan Philipp Gloger made his house debut with the new production using librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s alternative title for the opera: "The School for Lovers." The ROH cast a vocally and visually impressive cast to live up to the title, which included Corinne Winters as Fiordiligi, Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniele Behle as Ferrando, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Don Alfonso and Sabina Puértolas as Despina.
Arduini is currently performing Marcello at the Metropolitan Opera on Januray 6,11 and 14.
SEXIEST SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT: Zachary Gordin on Instagram
Zachary Gordin on Instagram
If you're not one of Zachary Gordin's 1,450 followers on Instagram (zgordin) then you're missing out on some of the best barihunk shots on the internet. Gordin's site alternates personal posts with images from performances and his brutal gym workouts.
The fitness buff also serves on the voice faculty of Sonoma State University and operates a private vocal studio in the San Francisco Bay Area. Upcoming performances include "Mozart at the Opera" with the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio on January 22 and a recital with accompanist Brian Nies at the Green Music Center in Sonoma.
We particularly love him because he includes us in his bio, "Gordin is also widely recognized as the face of the website Barihunks, which celebrates physically fit and vocally-talented operatic baritones from around the globe."
THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF OUR READERS, AS 2017 WILL MARK OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY. WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO PROMOTING SINGERS IN THE BARITONE TO BASS RANGE AND ENCOURAGING AND FUNDING NEW REPERTORY FOR THOSE VOICES.
Barihunk Michael Hewitt is raising money for an event called The Decath10n , which raises money for pediatric cancer research. Hewitt is specifically raising money for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
He has to raise $2,500 to compete in the Decathlon, although the ever-competitive singer has set his goal at $7,000. If he doesn't reach his goal, he can't compete in the challenge, which includes ten events that he's been training for over the last few months.
The Barihunks family would like to help him reach his goal and is hoping that our readers will chip in. Go to his Decath10n page and support him in this noble effort.
Michael is also featured in July in our 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar. We will donate any money from calendar sales in the next 48 hours to his Decath10n effort, so donate now. Click HERE to order your calendar.
The always entertaining and extremely talented barihunk Michael Hewitt is performance his graduate recital on Monday, May 4th at the University of Denver's Hamilton Recital Hall a 7:30 PM. The concert is free and open to the public.
He'll be accompanied at the piano by Mallory Bernstein in a program of love, love lost, and wandering. Hewitt will perform music by Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, Franz Schubert, Rodgers & Hammerstein II, Lerner & Loewe, Head, Merrill, Tosti, and Ralph Vaughan-Williams.
During his time at the Lamont School of Music, he performed Emile de Becque in "South Pacific", Rev. Olin Blitch in Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah,” Jud Fry in “Oklahoma!,” and the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He is an alumnus of the 2014 Houston Grand Opera Young Artist Vocal Academy and of Seagle Music Colony (where he was part of our group barihunks shoot).
On May 21 and 22, he'll sing the role of Mordecai in Oscar Sladek's "Far Beyond Rubies" at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. The musical tells the story of Esther and Mordecai imagined as a great love story set against the turmoil and intrigue of Ancient Persia. On May 28th, he'll be the bass soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Bottom Row - Austin Siebert, George Arvidson, Clay Thompson, Nate Mattingly, Mason Jarboe, Michael Miller
Top Row - Keith Browning, Trevor Martin, Michael Hewitt, Damian Faul
The Seagle Music Colony in upstate New York, which was one of our first recipients of a grant from our calendar sales, has assembled quite a bevy of barihunks this season. The minute we saw the roster, we offered to ship off some of our tee-shirts in exchange for a group of photo. Wow, were we pleased when the photos arrived.
The training program just wrapped up performances of Lerner & Loewe's Camelot, a children's performance of Hansel & Gretel, Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers and Side by Side by Sondheim. From July 30-August 2, they'll present Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, followed by Bernstein's West Side Story and a Vespers concert.
L to R = Michael Miller, Mason Jarboe, Austin Siebert, Trevor Martin,
Michael Hewitt, Keith Browning, Damian Faul, George Arvidson, Nate
Mattingly and Clay Thompson
The critical role of Olin Blitch in Susannah will be shared by Nathaniel Mattingly (July 30, Aug. 1), William Clay Thompson (July 31, Aug. 2), Trevor Martin will sing Elder McLean and George Arvidson will sing Elder Ott. In West Side Story Trevor Martin will sing Bernardo, William Clay Thompson will sing Detective Schrank, George Arvidson is Riff and Austin Siebert as Diesel.
In the recently completed performances of The Italian Girl in Algiers, directed by John De Los Santos,the role of Mustafa was alternated between Austin Seibert and Michael Hewitt (who has appeared in the Barihunks calendar), while Mason Jarboe sang Haly.
Michael Hewitt as he appeared in the 2013 Barihunks calendar
Camelot featured Damian Faul as Merlyn, Trevor Martin as Arthur, Michael Hewitt as Lancelot nad William Clay Thompson as Mordred.
Seagle Music Colony is the oldest summer vocal training program in the United States and was awarded the "Best Cultural Event" in the Adirondacks by the Adirondack Local Government
Conference Committee. We highly suggest that you join Barihunk in financially supporting this great program. If you're interested in making a donation, please click HERE.
