Christopher Burchett returns to Soldier Songs

Christopher Burchett

The Fargo-Moorhead Opera, continues to present some of the most compelling new American operas, with their April 6 and 8 performances of David T. Little's gripping Soldier Songs with American barihunk Christopher Burchett returning to the role of the Soldier. Tickets are available online.  

Christopher Burchett in Soldier Songs:

Soldier Songs traces the shift in perception of war  from the age of 6 to the age of 66.  Follow the lead character through the  phases of life from boy to man:  playing violent video games as a boy, enlisting & serving in the military, dealing with the real-life horrors of war & later in life dealing with the real-life horrors of war - becoming a father whose worst fears are realized with the news of the death of his son.  Adapted from interviews with veterans of five wars, this opera theater experience explores the ideas versus the realities of the Soldier, the exploration of and exploitation of innocence along with the "seemingly impossible" of expressing the truth of war. 

Burchett has performed the piece with the Prototype Festival and Beth Morrison Projects in New York and Amsterdam.

Christopher Burchett in Edgar Allan Poe double-bill in Fort Worth

Christopher Burchett and Maren Weinberger in Buried Alive (photos: Brandon Wade)

Back in 2014, we posted about barihunk Christopher Burchett performing in composer Jeff Myers and librettist Quincy Long's Buried Alive at the Fargo Moorhead Opera. He's reprising the role, in which he appears in various states of undress, at the Fort Worth Opera Festival, which is currently underway.

Buried Alive was written specifically for Burchett, and he has been with the project since the first workshops with the American Lyric Theater in 2010. As part of the Poe Project, the goal was to create an opera that Poe himself might have written, although it's based on the author's The Premature Burial. The opera is directed by Lawrence Edelson, who heads up the American Lyric Theater.

The Fort Worth Opera is presenting Buried Alive at the Scott Theatre at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, which is a more intimate space than Bass Hall where they perform their standard repertory pieces. It's part of a double-header with Embedded, based on The Cask of Amontillado, and previewed at Fort Worth Opera's Frontiers showcase for new works in 2013. The stagings include twelve TV monitors with special effects and a large eyeball that ogles the crowd. Burchett also appears as the Producer in Embedded.

Christopher Burchett

Buried Alive tells the story of Victor, a painter whose nightmares of death begin to become real. Alternating realities are juxtaposed and culminate in a final gruesome ending. 

Embedded revolves around an aging American news anchor who finds herself on the wrong side of the headlines. Desperate to prove her value while being pushed out of her job by a young rival, she is tricked by a notorious terrorist into traveling to see him for an exclusive interview. The opera takes an unexpected twist and ends with a moment of triumph in face of death.

There are five remaining performances on April 26, 29 and 30, and May 3 and 7. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Matthew Worth to star in Southeast premiere of Soldier Songs

David Adam Moore in Soldier Songs

Matthew Worth will take on David T. Little's Soldier Songs in a new production at the Atlanta Opera, which has previously been performed by fellow barihunks David Adam Moore in New York and Christopher Burchett in Fargo. The production is part of the new Atlanta Opera Discoveries series and will be Southeast premiere of the work. The performances will run from November 11-15 and tickets are available online.

The production is being done by the art/media collective,GLMMR, with sets, costumes, video by David Adam Moore's partner Vita Tzykun and lighting by Max Bowman. The director will be Tomer Zvulun who is the first veteran to be creatively involved with the show. He was a combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces. 

Soldier Songs is an evening-length multimedia event that combines elements of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation to explore the perceptions versus the realities of the Soldier, the exploration of loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of expressing the truth of war. The libretto was adapted from recorded interviews with veterans of five wars. 

In December, Worth will return to his native New England to perform Joyful Voices with the Hartford Symphony and Chorale. The performance includes music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, excerpts from Handel's Messiah and Fauré's Requiem in D minor, Op. 48. He'll be joined by soprano Melody Moore.

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Lee Poulis back as Oppenheimer; Don Giovanni to be broadcast

Lee Poulis gloriously shirtless onstage and off

We think the world would be a better place of American barihunk Lee Poulis would just walk around shirtless all of the time. We just learned that he's returning to a role where he'll be decked out in a suit, so we thought we'd share some of these pictures.

Poulis will be returning to the role of Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams' Doctor Atomic at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Spain on March 13, 16 and 18. Jessica Rivera will sing the role of Kitty Oppenheimer. Poulis first sang the role in the German premiere in 2010 at the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken. He then reprised the role a year later at the Finnish National Opera.

Tickets and additional cast information for the Seville performances are available online.

Lee Poulis as Robert Oppenheimer in Saarbrücken

If you can't make it to Seville, Poulis will be performing Leporello opposite the Don Giovanni of fellow barihunk Christopher Burchett at the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre on January 16 and 18. The January 16th performance will be also broadcast on Iowa Public Radio at 2 PM CST. Click HERE for the broadcast. He previously sang the title role in Don Giovanni at Sarasota Opera in 2011.

Christopher Burchett in new David Lang opera

Christopher Burchett

Christopher Burchett, who has managed to appear on this site in his underwear more than virtually any other barihunk, will be more fully clothed for his next appearance. On Sunday, September 28th, he'll be portraying Andrew in David Lang‘s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field at Roulette in Brooklyn.

The opera is based on an 1888 Ambrose Bierce story of the same name. It's about a slave owner in the pre-civil war American South who walks across his field and disappears, in plain view of his family, his neighbors and his slaves, forever altering the relationships among them. Everyone around him has his or her own view of what that disappearance means, of why it had to happen, and of what will happen now that there is a ‘hole’ where a man used to be.

The Difficulty of Crossing a Field is intended to cross between opera and theater worlds, mixing arias with spoken text, emotional melodies with intense drama. It is written for 5 principals and a small chorus, and the accompaniment is for string quartet on stage, both as the “orchestra” and as part of the set. Ultimately, it is an opera in which the damage done by slavery leaks from the physical to the metaphysical world.

The opera is presented by Beth Morrison Projects and tickets are available online.

Barihunks Alternate Soldier Songs in D.C. and Holland Festival

Composer David T. Little's Soldier Songs seems to be finding a foothold in the contemporary repertory, as it is being reprised in Washington D.C. this weekend with barihunk David Adam Moore.

Soldier Songs is an evening-length multimedia event that combines elements of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation to explore the perceptions versus the realities of the Soldier, the exploration of loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of expressing the truth of war. The performance is further enhanced with video and film from Bill Morrison.

The libretto, created by the composer, was adapted from recorded interviews with veterans of five wars.  Soldier Songs traces the shift in perception of war from the age of 6 to the age of 66. The story follows the abstract character through the three phases of life:  Youth (playing war games) Warrior (time served in the military) and Elder (aged, wise, reflective).

There is one remaining performance at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Sunday, May 18 and tickets are available online. The production then travels to the Holland Festival with Christopher Burchett as the soldier for a double-bill with Nico Muhly's Spiral Mass. Tickets are available online.

Sexy pictures of barihunk Christopher Burchett in "Buried Alive"

Christopher Burchett (prone) with Jennifer Feinstein, Jonathan Blalock and Caroline Worra

One of our few regrets in putting together the Barihunks calendar is that we occasionally run out of room to include each and every singer. Such was the case with barihunk Christopher Burchett, but fortunately we have a bunch of pictures from his appearance in composer Jeff Myers and librettist Quincy Long's Buried Alive, which opens today and will be performed again on March 30th at the Fargo Moorhead Opera.

Christopher Burchett in Buried Alive

Buried Alive was written specifically for Burchett, and he has been with the project since the first workshops with the American Lyric Theater in 2010. The opera is part of a partnership between the Fargo Moorhead Opera and American Lyric Theater for the Poe Project Double Bill, which will be the first operatic world premieres in Fargo.

American Lyric Theater asked composer/librettist teams to create contemporary opera thrillers inspired by the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. The operas are not simply adaptations of Poe stories. The composer/librettist teams were asked, “What might Poe write if he were alive today?”

Christopher Burchett in Buried Alive

Buried Alive draws on themes of anxiety and mortality from Poe’s story “The Premature Burial,” as a painter’s nightmares of death start to become real. The opera is directed by Lawrence Edelson, the producing artistic director of the American Lyric Theater.

The second opera is composer Patrick Soluri and librettist Deborah Brevoort's Embedded. The opera is wittily inspired by Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” as a TV news anchor finds herself on the other side of the headlines. The opera is directed by Sam Helfrich, whose recent work includes productions for Glimmerglass Festival, Virginia Opera, and the Spoleto Festival/USA

Christopher Burchett in Buried Alive

In addition to Burchett, the operas feature a cast of five more of the country’s leading singers, who take on different roles in each opera: soprano Caroline Worra, soprano Sara Gartland, mezzo soprano Jennifer Feinstein, tenor Jonathan Blalock and bass Nathan Stark.

For tickets or additional information, visit the Fargo Moorhead Opera website.

Christopher Burchett in North Dakota's first opera premieres

Christopher Burchett in Soldier Songs

Barihunk Christopher Burchett, who showed off that he look pretty hot in a pair of skivvies in David T. Little's Soldier Songs, is about to make history in Fargo, North Dakota. On March 28th and 30th at the Fargo Moorhead Opera, he'll be part of the Poe Project Double Bill, which is comprised of two one-act operas, Buried Alive and Embedded, which were commissioned by American Lyric Theater as part of Edgar Alan Poe centennial back in 2009. These will be the first opera premiere ever presented in the state.

Composer Jeff Myers and librettist Quincy Long's Buried Alive draws on themes of anxiety and mortality from Poe’s story “The Premature Burial,” as a painter’s nightmares of death start to become real. It will be directed by Larry Edelson.

Composer Patrick Soluri and librettist Deborah Brevoort's Embedded was inspired by Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”  The libretto revolves around a TV news anchor who finds herself on the other side of the headlines. It will be directed by Sam Helfrich.

Aaron Sorensen & Jonathan Blalock

Burchett will be joined in both operas by soprano Caroline Worra, soprano Sara Gartland, mezzo soprano Jennifer Feinstein, bass Nathan Stark and tenor Jonathan Blalock, who was recently awarded a Barihunks Calendar Grant along with bass Aaron Sorensen to make a joint West Coast recital debut in 2014.

Tickets for the world premiere production of the Poe Project may be purchased online.

Fargo-Moorhead Opera was founded in 1968 and and is the only full-season opera company from Omaha to Winnipeg and Minneapolis to Billings. The company tours regularly throughout North Dakota and rural Minnesota as a part of its commitment to bring opera to communities that have never before experienced live opera.

Jesse Blumberg stunning as Ulysses

Jesse Blumberg in Opera Omnia's The Return of Ulysses

We were very excited when we learned that the innovative young opera company Opera Omnia had hired Jesse Blumberg for their production of Claudio Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses. He's become a favorite of ours, as well a favorite of composers like Ricky Ian Gordon and a number of leading opera companies. A thoughtful singer with great dramatic instincts and a beautiful voice, he's also a true barihunk in every sense of the word. For this role he had to sing shirtless for almost the entire first act and we heard that he stuck to a pretty strict workout regime. Of course, we had to get a picture to share with our readers.

The New York Times wrote of his performance, "And the vocal performances were in general excellent. Jesse Blumberg was compelling as Ulysses, throwing himself into the role physically as well as vocally."

Blumberg can next be seen on October 4th in the premiere of Paul Richards' Biennale with fellow barihunk Christopher Burchett in Philadelphia. Later that month he can be heard performing music of Emmanuel Chabrier with the Mirror Visions Ensemble in New York and Philadelphia. We're most excited about a performance in April next year with the Minnesota Opera when he'll be performing Papageno in the brilliant production of Mozart's The Magic Flute created by director Barrie Kosky and the British theatre group 1927. We saw this in Berlin and it is brilliant. Add it to your opera travel calendar today. More information is available online.

Listen to American Lyric Theater's three new operas live

Jonathan Estabrooks and Christopher Burchett

We've been posting about the American Lyric Theater's project to commission three new operas under the auspices of their Composer Librettist Development Program. They include plenty of barihunks and now you'll be able to enjoy them online at OperaMusicBroadcast.com.

On May 30th at 7 PM EST, you can listen to The Turing Project by composer Justine F. Chen and librettist David Simpatico featuring barihunks Jonathan Estabrooks, Justin Hopkins and Joseph Beutel.

Sunday, June 2 at 7 PM EST, you can listen to The Long Walk by composer Jeremy Howard Beck and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann featuring barihunks Daniel Belcher and Justin Hopkins, as well as one of our honorary hunkentenors Glenn Seven Allen.

On Monday, June 3rd at 7 PM EST, you can hear La Reina by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist Laura Sosa Pedroza featuring barihunk Christopher Burchett.

American Lyric Theater hosts series of events for three new opera commissions

Justin Hopkins in his barihunk tee shirt

Back in November we posted about the American Lyric Theater's exciting project to commission three new operas under the auspices of their Composer Librettist Development Program. ALT has announced a series of events related to those works including a series of concert readings of the operas, which happen to include singers familiar to our readers.

On Thursday, May 30th there will be a concert reading of The Turing Project by composer Justine F. Chen and librettist David Simpatico featuring barihunks Jonathan Estabrooks, Justin Hopkins and Joseph Beutel. They will be joined by soprano Kathryn Guthrie, mezzo-soprano Elise Quagliata, tenor Kyle Bielfield, and tenor Benjamin Robinson.

Jonathan Estabrooks

The Turing Project is a historical fantasia based on the life of the English scientist Alan Turing. A simple man of extraordinary abilities, Turing's achievements include creating the first universal computer; breaking the Nazi U-Boat code, which proved crucial to the success of the allied forces in WWII; and creating the field of Artificial Intelligence. Yet, despite the many benefits Turing's ideas bestowed upon humanity, the British government charged him with Gross Indecency for the crime of being homosexual, and punished him with chemical castration. A year after his sentence was carried out, Turing committed suicide at the age of 41, eating an apple laced with cyanide. The opera explores Turing's extraordinary contributions to mankind, his county's disavowal of him because he was gay, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.

Daniel Belcher

Sunday, June 2, 2013, there will be a concert reading of The Long Walk by composer Jeremy Howard Beck and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann featuring barihunks Daniel Belcher and Justin Hopkins, our honorary tenor barihunk Glenn Seven Allen from our year-end feature, mezzo-soprano Heather Johnson, tenor Kyle Bielfield, soprano Caroline Worra, and soprano Donita Volkwijn.

The Long Walk dives deep into the mind of an American soldier who has returned from Iraq after serving as an officer in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Castner's battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which he calls "the Crazy with a capital C," is at the center of this moving personal story of a man struggling to reintegrate himself into his family life upon his return from the war.

Christopher Burchett rehearsing Soldier Songs

On Monday, June 3rd, there will be a concert reading of La Reina by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist Laura Sosa Pedroza featuring barihunk Christopher Burchett, mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock, soprano Audrey Luna, soprano Rosa Betancourt, tenor Dominic Armstrong, and tenor Javier Abreu.

La Reina is the story of one of the most powerful drug "queenpins" in history - Regina. The opera explores the symbiotic relationship between the US and Mexico and their shared responsibilities in the increasingly violent drug wars, fueled by revenge and corruption on both sides of the border. As events from her past invade her present reality in an American prison cell, she interacts with the ghosts of the men who have shaped her life. A shrine of La Santa Muerte (a skull and bones incarnation of the Virgin Mary and the patron saint of drug dealers) comes to life and acts as Regina's guide in her journey through her past. La Santa Muerte forces Regina to relive the tragic sequences of death and treason that led to her crowning as the queen of organized crime, and to her eventual downfall and imprisonment.

Additional information, included related events can be found on the American Lyric Theater's website.

Christopher Burchett in skivvies for Soldier Songs

Christopher Burchett rehearsing Soldier Songs

Christopher Burchett begins the 2013 season in New York City with the one-man opera Soldier Songs by David T. Little as part of the PROTOTYPE New Music Festival produced by Beth Morrison Projects and HERE. Burchett has been running 30 miles a week to get into shape for the role. Of course, he's taking over the role from barihunk favorite David Adam Moore, who wowed readers with his photos from Soldier Songs.

Performances begin this Friday and run through January 18th at the Pace Schimmel Center for the Arts in New York City. Tickets are available online.

David Adam Moore in Soldier Songs

Burchett will also take Soldier Songs to Rotterdam in the Netherlands as part of the Operadagen Festival in 2015.

Soldier Songs combines elements of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation. The  opera explores the perceptions versus the realities of the Soldier, the exploration of loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of expressing the truth of war.

Christopher Burchett discusses his preparations to play the leading role in Soldier Songs.

from PROTOTYPE Festival on Vimeo.

David Adam Moore as Vincent van Gogh

David Adam Moore: Bearded to play Vincent van Gogh

Barihunk David Adam Moore will be performing in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Bernard Rands' new opera "Vincent" at Indiana University.  The opera explores all of the aspects of painter Vincent van Gogh's personality that ultimately drove him to madness. We kind of like the idea of a baritone getting to go mad rather than a soprano for a change. The libretto is by the gifted writer J.D. McClatchey.

David Adam Moore rehearsing Vincent

Tonight's opening performance and tomorrow's performance will be streamed live and you can click HERE to watch them at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST.  Moore, who is alternating the lead role with Christopher Burchett, will only be seen on the broadcast of April 8. He also performs the role on April 16, but that will not be broadcast. Here is a preview video.



Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

David Adam Moore Backstage 

UPDATE: Yesterday we reported that Daniel Okulitch was involved in a serious car accident. Although he suffered some major injuries, we are being told that he is expected to have a full and complete recovery.

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