Barihunk duo in Opera Santa Barbara's “The Crucible”

Wayne Tigges and Colin Ramsey

Bass-barihunks Wayne Tigges and Colin Ramsey will close out the Opera Santa Barbara season in Robert Ward's operatic rendition of “The Crucible.”

Tigges joins mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock as the husband and wife John and Elizabeth Proctor, who are at the center of the story. Colin Ramsey sings the role of doctrinaire, calculating witch hunter Reverend John Hale.

Robert Ward composed the English language opera based on Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. The opera won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and was originally commissioned by the New York City Opera.

Barihunk Peter Bording in The Crucible:

Miller was involved in selecting Ward to adapt the play for an opera. The Crucible is a classic American drama written as an allegory for McCarthyism and the US Government’s persecution of suspected communists inspired by the 17th century Salem witch trials. Miller himself had been questioned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Un-American Activities. The story is about a community confronting mass hysteria and dangerous ideology and the repercussions and costs of reputation and integrity.

Performances are on April 26 and April 28 at the Lobero Theatre Opera, with an additional performance on April 29 for middle and high-school age students. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Luis Alejandro Orozco stars in Santa Barbara Opera's 25th Anniversary season opener

Luis Alejandro Orozco (Photos: C. Stanley & Tim Trumble)

Mexican-American barihunk Luis Alejandro Orozco will sing the role of Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, which will launch the 25th anniversary season of the Opera Santa Barbara on November 9 and 11. Tickets are available online.

He'll be joined in the cast by Vincent Grana as Colline, Eleni Calenos as Mimi, Elle Valera as Musetta, Nathan Granner as Rodolfo and Yazid Gray as Schaunard.

The rest of the Opera Santa Barbara season includes Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with barihunk Lee Poulis in the title role and Robert Ward's The Crucible with bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey as Reverend John Hale. 

 Luis Alejandro sings "Where is the life that late I led" from Kiss Me, Kate:

Orozco made his Opera Santa Barbara debut in 2014 as Assan in Menotti's The Consul, and returned as Taddeo in Rossini's L’italiana in Algeri in 2015 and as Belcore in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love in 2016.

He will return to the role of Marcello in April with the Anchorage Opera. In the meantime, one can hear him as Watty Watkins in Lady Be Good at the Teatro di San Carlo and Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas with Pensacola Opera.

Barihunk trio returns in Opera San Jose's "La boheme"

Brian James Myer, Colin Ramsey and Matthew Hanscom

Opera San Jose's upcoming performance of Puccini's La boheme will feature the barihunk trio of Matthew Hanscom as Marcello, Colin Ramsey as Colline and Brian James Myer as Schaunard. There will be six performances from April 15-30, including three with budding soprano superstar Julie Adams as Mimi. 

The opera will be updated the end of WWI, when Paris was delirious with optimism for the new century and great artists like Nijinsky, Stravinsky, Picasso and Coco Channel were creating a new way of life in the art's capital of the world.

The barihunk trio also appeared together in Opera San Jose's production of Kevin Puts' Silent Night, with Colin Ramsey as Father Palmer, Brian James Myer as Ponchel and Matthew Hanscom as Matthew Hanscom as Lt. Gordon.

The April 23rd performance will also feature a pre-performance brunch in the elegant courtyard of the California Theatre. Tickets for La boheme and the brunch are available online.

Barihunk duo alternating Raimondo at Opera San José

Colin Ramsey (left) and Kian Freitas (right)

Bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey, who has been featured regularly on this site, will relinquish the final performance of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera San José to Kian Freitas, who is new to this site. Ramsey will perform the role on September 18 and 23, while Freitas will perform on closing night, September 25. The cast also includes Sylvia Lee as Lucia and Kirk Dougherty as Edgardo. Additional information and tickets are available online.

Other roles Freitas has performed include Ferrando in Il Trovatore with Opera Forza, Angelotti in Tosca at the Martha Cardona Opera Theater, Schaunard in La bohème, both Figaro and Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Escamillo in Carmen at NY Opera Exchange, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, as well as Raimondo with the NY Opera Exchange. He created the role of Stefano in the world premiere of La Tempesta, an operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest presented in Italy.

He is also covering the role of the British Major in the West Coast premiere of Kevin Puts's Silent Night for Opera San José. On January 28th, he'll join the South Dakota Symphony as  Leporello in their semi-staged performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Freitas was a participant in the 2015-16 Venture Opera Young Artist Program.

Colin Ramsey will perform Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville with Opera San José beginning on November 12. He then sings Father Palmer in Silent Night with the company, which runs from February 11-26, 2017.

Opera San José adds two barihunks to repertory roster

Colin Ramsey (Photo by Richard Corman)

Opera San José is adding four new singers to its roster for the 2016-17 season, including barihunks Brian James Meyer and Colin Ramsey. Ramsey is familiar to our readers, having appeared numerous times, but Meyer is making his debut. The company is a resident company that keeps singers on its roster for the season like many European houses.

However, Brian James Myer is not new to Opera San José, having performed Masetto in Don Giovanni during the 2013-14 season, Angelotti in Tosca in 2015-16 season, Alessandro/Enrico in the world premiere of Where Angels Fear to Tread and the Second Priest in The Magic Flute.

Meyer made his debut with the Florida Grand Opera this season. He has also performed Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with Sarasota Opera, Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni Opera Las Vegas, Yakuside in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Albert in Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe with Chautauqua Opera. This season at Florida Grand Opera, he will be seen as Figaro in performances of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.

Brian James Myer

He holds a bachelors’ degrees in music education and romance languages from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a master’s degree in vocal performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also a composer who has published a choral octavo that was performed by Santa Barbara Music.

Bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey will be performing Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville with Opera San José. On May 22, he'll be performing the National Anthem at the USA Water Polo Olympic Trials at the University of Southern California. 

Colin Ramsey sings the Catalog Aria from Don Giovanni:

He has performed Mr. Kofner in Menotti's The Consul at both the Seattle Opera and Opera Santa Barbara. He made his debut with the Austin Lyric Opera as Il Frate in Verdi's Don Carlo, as well as his debut with Green Mountain Opera Festival as Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola. He has also performed with Austin Lyric Opera, Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pacific Music Works, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. and Wolf Trap Opera.

Ramsey is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where he sang Giorgio in the US Premiere of Paisiello’s Nina, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, and Sparafucile in Rigoletto.  He recently took 3rd Prize in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Rocky Mountain Region.

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.

Colin Ramsey making role debut as Sarastro

Colin Ramsey

American bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey will be making his role debut as Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute in a collaboration between the Pacific Musicworks and the University of Washington. The "new concept" for the opera will be directed by Dan Wallace Miller and conducted by early music specialist Stephen Stubbs. Fellow barihunk Geoffrey Penar will sing the role of Papageno.

Geoffrey Penar

 Performances are on Friday, May 8th and Sunday, May 10th in Meany Hall at the Univeristy of Washington. Tickets are available online. You can follow Colin Ramsey on Twitter @CBRamseyBass.

Introducing bass-barihunk Andrew Potter

Andrew Potter

We recently posted about barihunk Colin Ramsey singing The Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute at Opera NEO. The Sarastro in that production was Andrew Potter who we're featuring for the first time on our site.

Potter received his BA in Vocal Performance from Liberty University where he performed the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Poo Bah in The Mikado, and Baron Mirko Zeta in Lehar's The Merry Widow. 

Since 2012, he's appeared with Opera on the James in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, The Magic Flute, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Mr. Dashwood in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, and the Big Bad Bully in Stop Bully - an outreach opera performed in schools and community centers.

Since 2013, Potter has been a member of Opera Roanoke’s Young Apprentice Artist Program, where he sang the Sergeant the Pirates of Penzance and Curio in Handel's Julius Caesar. This year he'll sing the Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte and covering the role of Sarastro. He performed Ariodate, in Handel’s Serse and Le fauteuil/L’abre in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming roles in the 2014-15 season for Andrew include Simone in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Tidewater Opera Initiative, the Frog King in the World Premiere of Lori Laitman's The Three Feathers, Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Roanoke, Ramfis with Undercroft Opera in Verdi's Aida, Mephistopheles in Concert Opera Philadelphia’s production of Gounod's Faust, Zoroastro in Handel's Orlando with Boulder Opera Company, Colline in La Bohéme with Connecticut Lyric Opera, and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Bel Cantanti Opera.

Colin Ramsey in Aztec "Magic Flute"; Introducing Zane Ransom Hill

Colin Ramsey as The Speaker (left) and modeling his Barihunk tee shirt (right)

We introduced barihunk Colin Ramsey to readers last year and then featured him during his Seattle Opera debut in Menotti's The Consul earlier this year.

He's currently back at the Opera NEO Summer Opera Festival and Workshop where he's performing The Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute. The production is being done in Aztec style with a costume that we just had to share with readers.

The opera is being performed in English on August 15 and 17 at Crill Performance Hall at the Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Tickets are available online.

Zane Ransom Hill

Also appearing with Opera NEO is Zane Ransom Hill, who is new to this site. He'll be singing Lesbo in Handel's Agrippina (as well as covering Papageno in The Magic Flute).  Agrippina will be performed on August 14 and 16 under the baton of early music specialist Nicholas Kraemer.

Zane Ransom Hill is a junior at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he is pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. In the Spring of 2011, he was chosen to be part of the exclusive Houston Grand Opera High School Voice Studio; a yearlong scholarship program of private weekly voice lessons, master classes, performance opportunities and vocal coaching from the Houston Grand Opera staff. 

Hill has performed in the choruses of Haydn's Il Mondo Della Luna and Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus with the Oberlin Opera Theater, and was also accepted into the prestigious Oberlin in Italy program where he performed in the chorus of Puccini's La bohème. In 2013, he sang as part of the Lyrique en Mer Festival in Belle Île, France where he performed in the productions of both Bizet's Carmen and Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

This summer, he has been selected as one of only twelve Schubert Fellows for SongFest 2014 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he will perform in a concert series collaborating with leading composers and recital artists.

Seattle Opera's "Four Barihunks" Model Tee Shirts

Sarah Larsen with  Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi, and Colin Ramsey (Photo by Elise Bakketun)

 

We recently posted about the barihunk foursome performing in Menotti's The Consul at the Seattle Opera. The opera stars Michael Todd Simpson as John Sorel, Steven LaBrie as the Police Agent, Joseph Lattanzi as Assan and Colin Ramsey as Mr. Kofner. The four singers agreed to don their Barihunk tee shirts and take some shots on the set with soprano Sarah Larsen, who plays the secretary.

Sarah Larsen with  Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi, and Colin Ramsey (Photo by Elise Bakketun)

The Consul was a huge hit during its initial Broadway run, earning both the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The original production featured the legendary performances of Patricia Neway as Magda Sorel and Marie Powers as the mother. The great Verdi baritone Cornell MacNeil sang the role of John Sorel.

The story is about a devoted wife and mother who clashes with the bureaucracy of a nameless police state while trying to obtain an exit visa for her family.

Sarah Larsen with  Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi, and Colin Ramsey (Photo by Elise Bakketun)

The opera runs from February 22nd to March 7 and tickets are available online.

Barihunk foursome in Seattle Opera's The Consul

Michael Todd Simpson & Colin Ramsey

Joseph Lattanzi & Steven LaBrie

Michael Todd Simpson will be joining three of the hottest barihunks on the scene in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul at the Seattle Opera, which runs from February 22nd to March 7. Michael Todd Simpson takes on the major role of John Sorel, Steven LaBrie makes his company debut as the Police Agent, Joseph Lattanzi performs Assan and Colin Ramsey also makes his company debut as Mr. Kofner. We can't remember many instances when there's been this much pulchritude on the stage at one time.

Michael Todd Simpson is also the featured singer on the Seattle Opera blog where you can read an extensive interview with the Seattle based performer. 

Colin Ramsey will reprise the role of Mr. Kofner in a different production of The Consul with Opera Santa Barbara on March 25 and 27.  That production will feature barihunk Joshua Jeremiah as John Sorel.

Bass-Barihunk Colin Ramsey to make Seattle Opera debut

Colin Ramsey in L'incoronazione de Poppea at Opera NEO

We introduced bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey last summer as one of the guys on the Operaticus fitness site on Facebook. He just finished a run yesterday as Collatinus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with Vespertine Opera in Seattle. We didn't have any pictures from the production, which is a shame, as it's one of our favorite operas to showcase barihunk talent. If some emerge, we promise to post them.

However, we did find a few amazing pictures of Colin Ramsey as Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Opera NEO, the summer opera festival and young artist workshop in San Diego, California.

Colin Ramsey & Alyssa Packard in L’incoronazione di Poppea:

If you missed this emerging barihunk, you'll have another shot when Ramsey makes his debut with the Seattle Opera as Mr. Kofner in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul. The opera runs from February 22-March 7. If you attend operas based on the Barihunk Quotient, then The Consul is a "must see" production, as it features barihunks Michael Todd Simpson as John Sorel, Steven LaBrie as the Secret Police Agent and Joseph Lattanzi as Assan.

Ramsey will reprise the role of Mr. Kofner in a different production of The Consul with Opera Santa Barbara on March 25 and 27.  That production will feature barihunk Joshua Jeremiah as John Sorel. In May, he moves back a few centuries to portray Somnus and Cadmus in the Pacific Musicworks's production of Handel's Semele in cooperation with the University of Washington.

Colin Ramsey in The Marriage Tango (L) and
L'incoronazione de Poppea (R)

Ramsey graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2011, where he received the Hugh Ross Award, awarded to singers with "unusual promise." An award winner with the Pasadena Opera Guild, he went on to become a studio artist at Opera Santa Barbara and the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program.

He made his debut with Opera Santa Barbara singing the Doganiere in La Boheme. At Wolf Trap Opera he was featured as Hermann in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, Jonas Fogg in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and as Figaro and Alidoro in a program of scenes.

Introducing bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey

(L-R) Barihunk Gregory Jebaily, tenor Kenny Stavert, Barihunk Colin Ramsey and barihunk Stefan Barner

To no one's surprise, we're big fans of Operaticus on Facebook. It's where opera singers go to share workout tips, share stories about weight loss and fitness, and share photos. We recently saw a photo posted by Gregory Jebaily, who we introduced to readers in April 2013 and who has proven to be extremely popular with our readers. It appears that he's stuck to his workout routine, as you can see from the photo above. At this rate we may see him on the cover of both Opera News and Men's Fitness magazine.

Also catching our eye in the photo was another emerging singer who we haven't featured before, bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey. Ramsey is currently at the birthplace of Operaticus, the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Artist Program [If you want the history, click HERE]. He's appearing in the apprentice artist scenes, as well as covering the role of Friar Lawrence in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. Early next year, he's slated to make his mainstage debut with the Seattle Opera as Mr. Kofner in Menotti's The Consul.

Colin Ramsey sing La calunnia from Barber of Seville:

Ramsey graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2011, where he received the Hugh Ross Award, awarded to singers with "unusual promise." An award winner with the Pasadena Opera Guild, he went on to become a studio artist at Opera Santa Barbara and the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program.

He made his debut with Opera Santa Barbara singing the Doganiere in La Boheme. At Wolf Trap Opera he was featured as Hermann in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, Jonas Fogg in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and as Figaro and Alidoro in a program of scenes.  We look forward to seeing plenty more of this gifted young singer in the future.