Barihunk duo in Fort Worth's Pops at the Pavilion

Efrain Solis and Donovan Singletary

The Fort Worth Opera has announced that the barihunk duo of Efrain Solis and Donovan Singletary will perform in the first of two spring concerts on Sunday, March 29th. They'll be joined by fellow cast members from Puccini's La bohème, soprano Talise Trevigne, tenor Giordano Lucà and soprano Tracy Cantin. The performance will be at the Kimbell Art Museum's Renzo Piano Pavilion as part of the company's Pops at the Pavilion.

Efrain Solis sings Sondheim's Johanna:

A second concert on Wednesday, April 22th will feature soprano Talise Trevigne at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Tickets can be purchased online.

Efrain Solis will be singing Schaunard and Donovan Singletary will take on Colline in La bohème in both performances, which are on April 17 and 19. Tickets are available online.

Barihunks rotate lead in Opera Philadelphia world premiere

Theo Hoffman and Johnny Herford (photo: Maximilian Führig)

Barihunks Theo Hoffman and Johnny Herford will share the lead role in composer Philip Venables and librettist Ted Huffman's new opera Denis & Katya. The opera will premiere on September 18 with Opera Philadelphia as part of their Festival O19.

The true story follows 15-year-olds Denis Muravyov and Katya Vlasova, who livestreamed their final hours on multiple social media platforms after creating a real-time voyeuristic spectacle and leaving behind a trail of devastating footage of their drinking, smoking, cuddling, and crying as they prepared to die.

The couple had been in an armed standoff with Russian Special Forces when they decided to broadcast themselves live on social media, creating a spectacle of real-time voyeurism. The couple became known as the Romeo and Juliet of internet clickbait.

Denis & Katya is scored for four cellos and features a double cast. Theo Hoffman will be joined by mezzo-soprano Siena Licht Miller for opening night, with additional performances on September 21, 22, 25 and 29. The second cast features Johnny Herford and Emily Edmonds for performances on September 21, 23 and 28. Tickets and additional information is available online. 

West Coast fans of Theo Hoffman can catch him this Fall as Papageno in Barrie Kosky's highly acclaimed production of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Los Angeles Opera. Information is available online.

Barihunk trio in Santiago's "Don Giovanni"

Edwin Crossley-Mercer & Soloman Howard

The Teatro Municipal Santiago in Chile has assembled an impressive trio of barihunks for their upcoming performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The company is presenting dual casts in seven performances from April 16-27.

The first cast includes the barihunk trio of Levent Bakirci in the title role, Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Leporello and Soloman Howard as the Commendatore. To top things off, hunkentenor Joel Prieto is singing Don Ottavio. The second cast includes barihunk Daniel Miroslaw in the title role, joined by Sergio Gallardo as Leporello and Soloman Howard as the Commendatore. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Daniel Miroslaw and Levent Bakirci alternate as Don Giovanni

Bakirci, who is new to this site, graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara before pursuing his career as a singer. He has performed Don Giovanni at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, where he is an ensemble member, as well as the Theater Bremen, where he was a member of the ensemble from 2008-11.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer made his U.K. debut in the role of Leporello at the 2014 Glyndebourne Festival. After wrapping up Don Giovanni, Crossley-Mercer heads to Tokyo to perform Schubert's Winterreise on May 3rd and a set of Hollywood standards on May 5th. He then joins the legendary Bryn Terfel for performances of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust in Dresden, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Hamburg.

Soloman Howard will head to Santa Fe this summer to perform the Bonze in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. 

Daniel Miroslaw can next be seen at the Oper Frankfurt, where he is an ensemble member, as Quinault in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.

Barihunk duo to reprise JFK in Canadian premiere

Daniel Okulitch and Matthew Worth

Opéra de Montréal will present the Canadian premiere of composer David T. Little and Alberta-born librettist Royce Vavrek's “JFK". The opera will star two of the world's most popular barihunks in the lead roles: Matthew Worth, who takes on JFK and Daniel Okulitch, who portrays LBJ. Worth shares both the good looks and New England charm of our 35th President, while Okulitch matches the Vice President's imposing 6' 4" frame.

The duo premiered the piece at the Fort Worth Opera Festival in April 2016 to great acclaim. They'll be joined by many of the same cast members, including mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Jackie Kennedy, soprano Talise Trevigne as the housekeeper Clara Harris and the agent of fate Clotho, tenor Sean Panikkar as the secret service agent Henry Rathbone and the agent of fate Lachesis and Cree Carrico as Rosemary Kennedy.

Musical excerpts from JFK:

JFK delves into the hours President John F. Kennedy spent in Fort Worth, Texas immediately before his assassination in Dallas. The opera explores the subconscious of this complicated couple, examining their physical and emotional pain, their joy and love, and their metamorphosis into American myth.

Opéra de Montréal co-commissioned the piece with the Fort Worth Opera and the American Lyric Theater. The opera opens on January 27, 2018 and runs through February 3, 2018. Tickets are available online.

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!

Hunky Pin-Up Guys in Young Vic's HMS Pinafore

CJ Hartung, Joshua Hughes, Jeffrey Williams, John Kaneklides, and with flag (L-R)

Who says that Gilbert & Sullivan can't be sexy? The Young Victorian Theatre Company has assembled a cast of three barihunks and a hunkentenor for their current run of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. The pin-up worthy cast includes barihunk Joshua Hughes as Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, First Lord of the Admiralty; barihunk Jeffrey Williams as Captain Corcoran, Commander of the HMS Pinafore; hunkentenor John Kaneklides as Ralph Rackstraw; and, bass-barihunk Christopher "CJ" Hartung as Dick Deadeye.

The show has already proved to be a huge box office success, as Saturday's opening night performance and today's matinee both completely sold out. Fortunately for anyone near the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, there are three remaining performances on July 20, 22, and 23 at the Sinex Theater in the Roland Park area.

Joshua Hughes, graduated with a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and previously appeared in the company's 2016 summer production of Iolanthe. He recently performed in Charpentier's Les Arts Florissants and Purcell's The Fairy Queen with Dallas Bach Society.

Jeffrey Williams and cast

Jeffrey Williams, who won the Middle/East Tennessee District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, will be appearing next season with the Nashville Opera in both Puccini's Tosca and Hercules vs Vampires. He is also an Assistant Professor of Voice at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.

CJ Hartung is a student at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and is a regular young artist with the Berk's Opera Company, where he most recently sang the role of Lodovico in Verdi's Otello.

John Kaneklides has been singing both opera and musical theater, having performed Henrik in Sondheim's A Little Night Music and Tony in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. This season he made his role debut in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann with the St. Petersburg Opera, where he performed the title role.

Tickets for the remaining shows are available online.

Barihunk trio in NY premiere of operatic Angels in America

Wayne Tigges, Aaron Blake, Andrew Garland and Michael Weyandt (l-r)

The new New York City Opera closes its season with the New York Premiere of Péter Eötvös's Angels in America, distilling the two-night, seven-hour play into a single, powerful evening of opera. The cast includes the barihunk trio of Andrew Garland as Prior Walter, Michael Weyandt as Joe, Wayne Tigges as Roy Cohn and hunkentenor Aaron Blake as Louis. The opera comes with a warning of "strong sexual content, nudity, mature themes and language."

The opera was originally written for the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris where it premiered in 2004. The cast included barihunks Daniel Belcher and Omar Ebrahim, as well as Barbara Hendricks, Roberta Alexander, Derek Lee Ragin and and Topi Lehtipuu.  

Angels in America received its West Coast premiere in 2013 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with barihunk David Adam Moore and Nikolas Nackley as Joe. Moore has also sung the role at the Fort Worth Opera Festival and the Opera Wrocławsa in Poland.

The opera is based on Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name and will be sung in English with supertitles. There will be four performances running from June 10-16 and additional cast information and tickets are available online.

Francesca Zambello directs five barihunks in Dead Man Walking

Michael Mayes as Joseph de Rocher in Dead Man Walking

We generally credit director Francesca Zambello with coining the term "barihunk," so it should come as no surprise that she's directing five of them in a new production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking at the Washington National Opera from February 25-March 11.

The cast will be led by Michael Mayes, who the composer dubbed the definitive Joseph de Rocher, the accused killer at the center of the story. Mayes is making his company debut with this performance, although he's performed the role with the New Orleans Opera, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, San Francisco's Opera Parallèle, Madison Opera and Eugene Opera. He'll be joined by barihunks Wayne Tigges as Owen Hart, Timonty J. Bruno as George Benton, Michael Adams as the Motorcycle Cop/Prison Guard and Andrew Bogard as the other Prison Guard. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham will sing Mrs. de Rocher and Kate Lindsay will sing Sister Helen.

Barihunks Andrew Bogard, Michael Adams and Timothy J. Bruno

Wayne Tigges

The opera is based on Sister Helen Prejean’s acclaimed 1993 memoir, which tells of her time working with death row inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary and of a particular relationship she developed with one of the inmates. The opera explores the human conflicts posed by society’s demands for vengeance and the Christian imperative for forgiveness and love.

Dead Man Walking is one of the most performed of new American operas. Since its world premiere at San Francisco Opera in 2000, it has been staged internationally in more than 40 productions on five continents; it has also received two live recordings. 

The company will also present Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s Champion starring barihunk Audrey Allicock from March 4– 18.

Both operas explore the theme of social justice which is often associated with John F. Kennedy and are presented as part of JFKC, the Kennedy Center’s season-long celebration of President Kennedy’s centennial. Using many of the same designers and scenic elements, the directors of each opera have worked collaboratively to create two distinct worlds in each new production to showcase the issues of Justice, Courage, and Freedom at the heart of these two compelling stories.

Terence Blanchard uses jazz as the basis for a cinematic and groundbreaking operatic score filled with bluesy harmonies and Afro-Caribbean beats; Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cristofer’s libretto tells the true story of Emile Griffith, a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who threw a fatal punch in the boxing ring in 1962 after being taunted for his sexuality by his rival.

Aubrey Allicock, who created the role of the Young Emile at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 2010, will be making his Washington National Opera debut with this performance. Singing the role of Emile’s mother, Emelda Griffith, is mezzo- soprano Denyce Graves, while tenor Victor Ryan Robertson is Emile’s rival Benny Paret, baritone Wayne Tigges is Howie Albert and contralto Meredith Arwady peforms Kathy Hagan.

Discounted ticket information for both shows is available online.

Schmopera interviews Barihunks

Anthony Reed, Malte Roesner and Marco Vassalli

Jenna Douglas, founder of the site Schmopera, which takes an insider look at the industry and its artists, interviewed Jack Michaels from our Barihunks team. Here is what she wrote:

"If you're a fan of opera and opera singer, you likely know about Barihunks. For nearly 10 years, Barihunks has been glorifying the beautiful voices - and abs - of opera's smooth-voiced baritones. Any baritone who claims that he's not tickled to be featured on Barihunks is a modest fibber; the cream of the crop even make it into the 10th-anniversary "Baritones in Bed" calendar.

We spoke with Barihunks blogger Jack Michaels, about the sultry appeal of low voices, the blog's focus on health and fitness, and the respect and admiration he has for all working opera singers."

READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AT SCHMOPERA:

Three Barihunks regroup for holiday concert and CD

Nate Stark, Brian James Myer and Gabriel Preisser

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.

David Castillo and ¡Figaro! (90210) comes to New York City

David Castillo as Atzuko in ¡Figaro! (90210) (Photo by Ben Gibbs, courtesy of LA Opera)

After a successful run at the Los Angeles Opera, ¡Figaro! (90210) is now being performed in New York's Times Square from March 19-April 3. The opera is an updated and rewritten version of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro about class and power. The piece is set in present-day Los Angeles and filled with pop references,  contemporary slang and includes current topics like immigration reform and income inequality.

David Castillo, who we recently featured in his successful run as Anthony Hope in Townsend Opera's Sweeney Todd, will reprise the role of the stoner Atzuko. (Don't miss our interview with him). He's joined by barihunk Luke Scott as Paul Conti, José Adán Pérez as Figaro and Ethan Herschenfeld as Babayan. Other cast members include Samarie Alicea as Susana, Raquel Suarez Groen, Dwayne A. Washington as teenage troublemaker Li'l B-Man, Emma Grimsley, Sahoko Sato Timpone, Lori Mirabal and Michael Kuhn. Sets are designed by Steven C. Kemp, costumes designed by Lux Haac and lighting designed by Gina Scheer.

Luke Scott who plays Paul Conti

The libretto is in English and "Spanglish" and is about the undocumented workers Figaro and Susana who can't wait to get married. On their way to the altar they have to navigate a world of lecherous bosses, Botoxed starlets, bumbling human traffickers, ambitious hip-hoppers, and pothead gardeners in a wild adventure that recasts the classic opera as a madcap comedy about citizenship in today's America.

Performances are at The Duke on 42nd Street and tickets are available online.

On April 16 and 17, Castillo will be a soloist in the Los Angeles Master Chorale's staged production of Handel's Alexander's Feast at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Baritones/Basses dominate Met Eastern Finals

Joshua Arky, Theo Hoffman and Daniel Miroslaw

The Region Finals for the MetOpera National Council Eastern Region will be held on Thursday, January 14th and half of the finalists are baritones or basses. Three baritones include Sol Jin, Theo Hoffman and Michael Gracco, and the three basses are Daniel Miroslaw, Joshua Arky and Onay Kose.

Onay Kose, Sol Jin and Michael Gracco

Joshua Arky was a 2014 Regional Finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Eastern Region and won an Encouragement Award at the 2013 Auditions. He is a Master of Music candidate at the Manhattan School of Music, where he is a recipient of the President’s Award. He recently performed the roles of Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Colline in Puccini's La bohéme, and un vieillard in Bloch’s Macbeth all with the Manhattan School of Music. At the Central City Opera he performed Doctor Grenvil and Il Commissario in Verdi's La traviata, Merlin in Boismortier’s Don Quixote and the Duchess, and the Captain of the Inquisition in Man of La Mancha. In the Spring of 2016, he'll perform in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Binghampton Symphony and the Sargeant in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance with Opera Louisiane.

Theo Hoffman

Theo Hoffman has become a popular singer on this site, having first featured him during his early years at Juilliard in 2013. We also featured a wonderful and candid Q&A with him in 2014. This season he made his debut with Atlanta Opera as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème and is returning to the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 2017 where he previously covered Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. This season he will sing Papagano at Juilliard, where he previously performed Le Directeur in Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias.

He is his statement for the Met Audiions: “I was born and raised in the heart of Downtown Manhattan. My parents are chefs, and they taught me to create and experiment. I sing because I believe there is nothing more visceral and truthful than music produced by the naked human voice. What this broken world needs right now is truth.”

Daniel Miroslaw in Il Turco in Italia (Photo: Ken Howard)

Daniel Mirosław is an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies student at The Juilliard School. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Lodz Academy of Music in Poland and a Master’s degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He also studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim. His Juilliard performances have included Don Geronio in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia and Collatinus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 2015 singing Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio and the bass solo in the composer’s Mass in C major. In 2016 Mr. Mirosław will join the Oper Frankfurt’s ensemble.

Daniel Miroslaw sings Leporello's Catalog Aria:

The auditions on January 14th from noon to 5 PM and are open to the public, and are followed by a reception which all the singers are attending. More information and tickets can be found online. 

Barihunks "Best of 2015"

It's time for our annual year-end wrap up with our "Best of 2015" feature where we highlight our favorite posts. Many of these were actually chosen by our readers, as we closely followed how much traffic each of our posts were receiving.

Jason Duika

 

Iosu Yeregui

BEST NEWCOMERS: Jason Duika was new to our site this year and his beach photos proved so popular that we invited him to appear in our 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar, where he proved just as popular. He was a finalist last year in the James Toland Vocal Competition and is currently a young artist with the Palm Beach Opera where he will sing Dancairo, cover Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, sing the family performance and cover Dr. Malatesta in Donizettis Don Pasquale, sing Paquiro in Granados' Goyescas, and sing the Wigmaker in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.

These are some photos of Iosu Yeregui that didn't make it into the calendar, as they were not of high enough resolution, so we thought we'd share them now. The singer was born in San Sebastian, where he studied contemporary dance, flute and humanities for business. On stage, he's performed Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Colas in Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne and, most recently, Lodovico in Verdi's Otello with Opera de la ABAO in Bilbao, Spain.

Brandon Coleman

BEST READER SUBMISSION: Brandon Coleman was suggested to us by more than one reader and these pictures we haven't previously posted. Upcoming performances include Bartolo in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with Kentucky Opera from May 20-24, 2016 and Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore with the Hawaii Opera Theatre.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky at The Met

BEST COMEBACK: Dmitri Hvorostovsky made a triumphant return to the stage on September 25th in the Met's Il Trovatore after being treated for brain cancer in London. The New York audience greeting him with rollicking applause. He was joined by Anna Netrebko as the heroine Leonora, Dolora Zajick as the gypsy Azucena, Yonghoon Lee as Manrico and Štefan Kocán as Ferrando. Unfortunately, we recently learned that he's returning to London for additional treatments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also bestowed the Order of Alexander Nevsky on Hvorostovsky, which is given for exceptional artistry over a period of 20 years or more.

 

Clint Borzoni & Michael Weyandt

BEST NEW SONG PERFORMANCE: We can't imagine a better new song in the lieder repertory than one about our favorite topic. Michael Weyandt premiered Clint Borzoni's "The Barihunk Song" at the National Opera Center in New York in March. The composer and blond barihunk also teamed up at operamission for "When Adonis Calls" with a libretto by John De Los Santos based on erotic poetry by Gavin Geoffrey Dillard.  Borzoni will premiering two new songs On January 22 and 24 with barihunk Marco Vassalli and Musica Marin written for String Quartet and Baritone.

Soloman Howard

HOTTEST PORTRAYAL OF A REAL PERSON: These pictures of bass-barihunk Soloman Howard's portrayal of boxing legend  Muhammad Ali proved extremely popular with our readers. He performed DJ Sparr's Approaching Ali with bothe the North Carolina Opera and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.  He'll be performing Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in January with the North Carolina Opera and Fafner in Wagner's Das Rheingold with the Wshington National Opera in April/May 2016.

Brad Baron

BEST TWITTER DISCOVERY: We'd been following bass-barihunk Brad Baron on Twitter for some time, but when he hit the gym we realized it was time to add him to the site. He's currently pursuing his Masters of Music at LSU and is one of the most entertaining singers on Twitter. You can follow him @BaronAsInRed.

Dan Kempson in Streetcar Named Desire (with honorary barihunk Carrie Hennessey)

HOTTEST PHOTOS: Dan Kempson created a sensation with his performance of Stanley in André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, which was done in collaboration between the Fresno Grand Opera and Townsend Opera in Modesto. The opera played to enthusiastic crowds and his photos were the second most viewed on the site this year. Sadly, Kempson has announced his premature retirement from opera to pursue an advanced degree in opera/music administration. We wish him the best of luck. (Barihunks Liam Bonner and Jason Hardy have also announced their early retirements).

 

Zachary Luchetti

BEST SINGER BIO: One of our most popular posts of the entire year was Pennsylvania native Zachary Luchetti's spoof of singer biographies. His biography was not only the funniest singer bios that we'd ever read, but it perfectly lampooned the beefed up biographies that many performers post on their websites. A sample: "While he isn’t exactly sought after, he has amassed an impressive resume of over 70 roles in his short career."

Philipp Hochmair in "Der Ring: Siegfried/Götterdämmerung"

Christopher Maltman in Iphigénie en Tauride

HOTTEST NUDE SCENES: Philipp Hochmair's performance in "Der Ring: Siegfried/Götterdämmerung"isn't technically opera, as it was a theater piece based on The Ring with music by Wagner. But who could argue with Hochmair's full frontal assault in the role of Siegfried as the innocent forest child, which is true to the original story as the hero bathes in the blood of the freshly slain dragon to become invincible.

For a performance in an actual opera, one couldn't beat Christopher Maltman's full monty in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at the Whitsun Festival at Salzburg. The British singer is no stranger to nudity, having appeared in the buff in the Kasper Holten's movie Juan and in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Salzburg.

Marco Vassalli & Malte Roesner

Marco Vassalli & Malte Roesner

BEST CALENDAR MODELS: Marco Vassalli and Malte Roesner joined us in Montreuil-Bellay in the heart of France's Loire Valley for this year's Barihunk Calendar shoot and did the camera ever love these two German singers!

Roesner is the most featured calendar model this year, appearing on our cover, as well as in January, June and December. The singer has modeled in the past and was featured in an ad campaign for the opera company in Braunschweig. He's also one of the most intelligent singers who we've ever encountered and has translated librettos into German, including Jake Heggie's For a Look or a Touch and Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park.

Vassalli took so many sexy photos that we helped him put together a separate calendar, where $10 of each purchase will go to fund his upcoming US debut with Musica Marin on January 22 and 24. You can purchase your own copy HERE or buy tickets to his concert HERE. Vassalli is also well read and chose the poems for his upcoming program, which were set to music by composer Clint Borzoni. He selected Hilde Domin's Margere Kost and Hermann Hesse's Stufen.

Photos from Hadleigh Adams' new website.

BEST NEW WEBSITE: Few singers have had more enduring popularity on Barihunks than Hadleigh Adams and this year was no exception. Photos from his performances in the title role of Vivaldi's Bajazet with Pinchguy Opera, Orlando in RB Schlather provocative production at Whitebox in NYC and his biographical cabaret in San Francisco proved to be particularly popular. His website is available at http://www.hadleighadams.com.

He will be Falke in Cincinnati Opera's upcoming production of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus.

BEST COMPETITION WINNERS: Low male voices swept the 2015 Wigmore/Kohn International Song Competition as Milan Siljanov took 1st Prize, Samuel Hasselhorn took 2nd Prize and James Newby took 3rd Prize. Newby added to the sweep by also winning the Richard Tauber Prize given for the best interpretation of Schubert. His program included Finzi's Let us garlands bring and Schubert's An Sylvia?

Waltteri Torikka

BEST REALITY TV PERFORMANCE: Finnish barihunk Waltteri Torikka won MTV's singing competition Tähdet, Tähdet (Stars, Stars) garnering 58% of the vote and bringing the audience to its feet with his own hip swinging rendition of Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca.  His victory culminated a two month journey that included performances of Whitesnake's Still of Night, a country version of "Ring of Fire," the punk rock song "Hei hei mitä kuuluu," a Finnish tango, and even an Ozzy Osbourne-esque version of Scarpia from Tosca!

Torikka was subsequently voted as the "Sexiest Man in Finland" by the readers of the women's magazine Eeva (Eve).

The cast of La Fanciulla del West in Des Moines

BEST GROUP PHOTO: Michael Yeshion, who has photographed many of our calendar models, took these group photos at the Des Moines Metro Opera, during a break in rehearsals for their production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West). The barihunk rich cast included Alex Soare, Andrew Potter, Cesar Mendez Silvagnoli, Christopher Job, Geoffrey Penar, Joshua Jeremiah, Harry Greenleaf, Jonathan Harris, Trevor Martin, Tyler Alessi and Zach Owen.

Thomas Tatzl as Papageno

BEST PHOTO IN DRAG: Even with regietheater all the rage in European, it's tough to top Austrian barihunk Thomas Tatzl performing Papageno topless in a dress with a chorus of transsexual nuns! He's currently singing the role in Mozart's Die  Zauberflöte at the Theater Basel.
 

Keith Miller in Florencia en al Amazonas

BEST BLUE  BARIHUNK: Keith Miller's shirtless picture covered in blue body paint as Riolobo in Daniel Catán's Florencia en al Amazonas with the Nashville Opera was pretty hot. Director John Hoomes said the costume was "...inspired by the male costumes from Trinidad Carnival."

If you want to keep Barihunks up and running in 2016, you can support us by purchasing our Charity Calendar! It features 18 of the sexiest men in opera and all of the proceeds go to supporting young artists. ORDER TODAY by clicking HERE (you won't regret it!).

 

Bevy of Barihunks in Boulder's Barber

Michael Travis Risner

The Boulder Opera in Colorado will be featuring three barihunks in the upcoming family performances of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The opera will be sung in Italian, but narrated in English so that younger audience members can understand the story.

Andrew Potter, who has appeared on this site before, will be singing the comic role of Dr. Bartolo. Michael Travis Risner  and Garrett Smith, two singers who are new to the site will be rotating the title role.

Michael Travis Risner received his Masters in Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Colorado State University. He has been appearing on the stages of Colorado's Front Range for the past 20 years as a singer, actor, director, and stage combat instructor and choreographer (his resume even lists "fitness model").  He has performed the title role in Monostatos in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Dancaire in Bizet's Carmen, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Eddie/Dr. Scott in Rocky Horror Live!, Lancelot in Camelot, Anatoly in Chess and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Footloose (Chuck).

Andrew Potter (2 left) and Garrett Smith (2 right)

Garrett Smith was a student at the University of Colorado School of Music and works as Education Director at the Boulder Opera Company. He also moonlights as an emergency medicine scribe, medical school candidate, HIV prevention provider, researcher, Rolfer, and teacher t Music Together Boulder. His performance credits include Zoroastro/Narrator in Handel's Orlando; Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, as well as several musical theater roles.

There will be two performances on December 10, 12 and 13, as well as an early evening performance on December 11. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Time is running out to order your 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar, featuring 18 of the sexiest men in opera. ORDER TODAY by clicking below (you won't regret it!)

Cover of our 2016 Calendar

Barihunk duo in Sarasota Opera's La bohème

Craig Irvin & Colin Ramsey

Craig Irvin and Colin Ramsey will portray Marcello and Colline respectively in Sarasota Opera's upcoming run of Puccini's La bohème. The production will run from October 30 to November 17 and includes Jessica Rose Cambio as Mimì, Angela Mortellaro as Musetta, Martín Nusspaumer as Rodolfo and Gideon Dabi as Schaunard.

Craig Irvin sings If I Loved You from Carousel:

Craig Irvin, who just finished a successful run as the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, will next take on the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Utah Opera.

Colin Ramsey will sing Christus in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Gulfshore Opera in March 2016 in Punta Gorda, Fort Myers and Naples, Florida. 

MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGER FROM 9 COUNTRIES.