Happy Birthday, Zach Altman

Kempson (L) and Altman (R)

When we ran a shirtless photo of barihunk Zach Altman wearing nothing but a towel and it ended up being one of the most visited post on Barihunks. It has held a spot in the Top 10 posts ever since.

Today is Zach Altman's 26th birthday, so we thought it was a fitting time to celebrate with a new post and new photo.

The Philadelphia native is now headed to the Sarasota Opera to participate in their apprentice artist program.

What many people don't know is he one half of a Barihunk Duo, as his partner is Dan Kempson, who has also been featured on this site. The couple may not get to perform together much since they are both baritones, but they did appear on court television together over a demo tape dispute.

Sexy Zach Altman - A Barihunks favorite

Hopefully, one of our composer fans of this site will write a special duet for the sexy pair. If it happens, we promise to post it on the site.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Barihunks, you sexy thang.

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Kenneth Kellogg To Honor Ben Holt

Ben Holt & Kenneth Kellogg

We might as well continue posting about barihunks doing good deeds in their community. This time it's bass Kenneth Kellogg who will perform at a special free concert for the Ben Holt Memorial Branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians on Sunday, October 17, 2010, 3 P. M. at Asbury United Methodist Church, located at 11 and K Streets in Washington D.C.. 

The concert honors Ben Holt, a baritone who sang with the Metropolitan and New York City Opera companies before succumbing to  Hodgkin's disease at age 34. Holt created and recorded the title role in the opera ''X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X).

Kellogg created the role of  Tobias in San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program 's world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s The Hotel Casablanca. He was later selected to participate in the San Francisco Opera's prestigious Adler Fellowship program. The 6'5" singer is known for his commanding stage presence and resonant voice, which has clearly caught the attention of major opera houses. After leaving the Adler program, he was booked by the Los Angeles Opera, Wolf Trap, Washington National Opera and the Atlanta Opera. 

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Eugene Brancoveanu Triumphs in Carmina Burana; SF Recital Next

Eugene Brancoveanu, who we are certain is one of the next operatic superstars, recently scored a major triumph singing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote:

Outstanding guest vocalists filled the three solo rolls. Eugene Brancoveanu, baritone, displayed amazing versatility in his extensive solos. He exuded a calm earnestness in his "Omnia sol temperat" "The sun warms everything"; his powerful voice exploded vigorously in "Estuans interius" Burning inside. In "Dies, nox et omina" "Day, night and everything", Brancoveanu seamlessly traversed over three octaves as he described the various pains of love.

The former Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera now returns to the Bay Area to perform a song recital at the SF Conservatory of Music on Sunday, May 16th. Readers can get two for one tickets by visiting the City Box Office website and entering the promo code EB50.

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Emerging Barihunk: John Chest

Emerging barihunk John Chest was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. He's the latest in a long line of barihunks to land at the esteemed Merola Opera program in San Francisco.

Chest is only two years removed from finishing his Bachelors in Voice Performance at Bob Jones University. He ended up in Chicago where he studied with the former baritone David Holloway at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Holloway may have played a role in the talented baritone ending up as part of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program. While in Santa Fe he began working on what will undoubtedly become his signature role, Benjamin Britten's "Billy Budd." Of course, he may end fighting for that title with Mike Nyby, a current Santa Fe Apprentice who has been featured on this site.

Chest first came to our attention when we received an email from a fellow performer at the Chicago Opera Theater, where he covered Owen Wingrave for the equally hot Matthew Worth.

Chest's first role with Merola was Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan Tutte, where he stole the show and appeared shirtless. When he wraps up in San Francisco, he'll head to Munich and join the Opernstudio at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

We're trying not to end this post with cheap jokes, like "We want more Chest" or "This baritone always sings with Chest voice." Obviously, we failed.

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Opera News: Bass John Relyea Named as Recipient of Met's Fourth Annual Beverly Sills Award

[Photo: © Dario Acosta 2009]

The Metropolitan Opera announced today that bass John Relyea has been named as the recipient of the fourth annual Beverly Sills Award. The prize, which is presented annually to a young singer between the ages of 25 and 40 who has already appeared in a featured role with the Metropolitan Opera, carries a $50,000 award, making it the largest of its kind in the United States.

Established in 2006 with an endowment gift from Agnes Varis, managing director of the Met's board, and her husband Karl Leichtman, the award honors the late Beverly Sills by providing developing young artists with funds to help further their careers through voice lessons, vocal coaching, language lessons, related travel costs and other forms of professional assistance.

"I am profoundly honored to be receiving this award," said Relyea, who was presented with the prize in his dressing room prior to Wednesday's performance of La Cenerentola, in which he sings the role of Alidoro. "While I was never able to get to know Ms. Sills well, we did meet on a couple of occasions, and she sent me a couple of very supportive and complimentary notes before performances. It flattered and delighted me to know she was watching me, and taking the time to make such warm gestures. I would also like to give my deepest thanks to Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman, and the Metropolitan Opera for choosing me as this year's recipient. I am greatly humbled to be recognized in the presence of the legacy which Ms. Sills created for the world of opera, and the paragon of her artistry which so many of us continue to strive for throughout our singing careers.”

Relyea, who made his Met debut in 2000 as Alidoro, is the fourth recipient of the award, which was first given to baritone Nathan Gunn in 2006, and subsequently given to mezzo Joyce DiDonato in 2007 and tenor Matthew Polenzani in 2008. Over nine years, Relyea has sung a dozen roles at the Met, ranging from Méphistophélès in this season's new production of La Damnation de Faust, to Mozart's Figaro. Last season, he sang Banquo in Adrian Noble's production of Macbeth, and, during the 2006-07 season, performed the roles of Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and Giorgio (I Puritani); Relyea also assumed the role of Garibaldo in the 2004 Met premiere of Handel's Rodelinda.

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