John Chest simultaneously singing two English language operas in Germany

John Chest as Billy Budd in Berlin

American barihunk John Chest, who just finished a successful run as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Philadelphia, is back in his home base of Germany where he's pulling off an amazing feat of operatic stamina: He'll be singing two English language operas in Germany simultaneously!

Chest opened on May 26th in the title character of Britten's Billy Budd at the Deutsche Oper Berlin before heading off to the Semperoper Dresden to sing the role of the wealthy stockbroker Nick Carraway in John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby tonight, tomorrow and on June 1st. Hunkentenor Peter Lodahl is singing jay Gatsby and tickets are available online. He then heads back to Berlin for Billy Budd (where the Barihunks team will be in attendance!). To top it off, he also became a father for the first time this year along with his wife soprano Layla Claire.

Chest originally started working on Billy Budd back in 2008 as an apprentice artist and chorus member at the Santa Fe Opera. He made his role debut in 2014 in Berlin in a highly-acclaimed performance, which was the first performance of the piece at the Deutsche Oper. The current production features Gidon Saks as John Claggert, Richard Croft as Edward Vere, Simon Pauly as Donald and fellow barihunk Seth Carico as Mr. Redburn. Tickets are available online.

John Chest at Billy Budd and Gidon Saks as the evil John Claggert

After he wraps us Billy Budd, the jet-setting baritone heads off to the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Chest, where he'll represent the U.S. along with baritone Anthony Clark Evans. He'll be singing more American music, as he plans on performing Aaron Copland’s “Old America Songs.”

Other barihunks in the competition include bass Dominic Barberi representing England, bass Roberto Lorenzi representing Italy and calendar model Iurii Samoilov reprenting the Ukraine.

The Song Prize rounds will be broadcast in the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (June13 -16) with the song prize final live on Radio 3 In Concert (Friday, June 16) and on BBC Four presented by Petroc Trelawny and American soprano Angel Blue (Saturday, June 17).The four concerts at St David’s Hall, Cardiff will be broadcast on BBC Four (June13 - 16). The Grand Final will be broadcast live on both BBC Four and BBC Radio 3 on Sunday, June 18. 

Teddy Tahu Rhodes to head Sweeney Todd cast in New Zealand

Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Antoinette Halloran in Sweeney Todd

Kiwi barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes will star in the new co-production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd between New Zealand Opera and Melbourne's Victorian Opera. The production comes to New Zealand following a successful run in Melbourne in July, 2015. It will be performed at The Civic in Auckland  from September 17-24, the St James Theatre in Wellington from September 30 – October 5, and at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch from October 12-15. Tickets are available online. 

Joining Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the cast is Australian soprano Antoinette Halloran as Mrs Lovett,   Phillip Rhodes as Judge Terpin and Amelia Berry . Two of the singers are also alums of San Francisco's Merola Opera Program, which has featured a number of New Zealanders in their training program, including barihunk Hadleigh Adams, soprano Amina Edris and tenor brothers Pene Pati and Amatai Peti. Tenor James Benjamin Rodgers will sing Anthony Hope and baritone James Ioelu will sing Jonas Fogg.

Set in 19th century England, Sweeney Todd follows a murderous barber who, in order to take revenge on a corrupt judge who banished him, conspires with a local baker who is in desperate need of fresh meat for pies. 

Following his run in Sweeney Todd, Rhodes will be part of a Royal Caribbean opera cruise taking in Sydney, Mare Island and Noumea. He'll be joined by legendary soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, David Hobson, Cheryl Barker, Peter Coleman-Wright and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Bookings are available online.

Watch barihunk George Humphreys in world premiere of In Parenthesis

George Humphreys (left) and Andrew Bidlack (right) in In Parenthesis

Iain Bell's new opera In Parenthesis received its world premiere on May 13th at the Welsh National Opera with barihunk George Humphreys in the key role of Lieutenant Jenkins. The all-star cast also included hunkentenor Andrew Bidlack in the major role of Private John Ball, Peter Coleman-Wright in the Bard of Brittannia, Alexandra Deshorties is the Bard of Germania and the Queen of the Woods and Graham Clark is the Marne Sergeant.

It wraps up performance on July 1 at the Royal Opera House in London, but will be available worldwide for viewing on The Opera Platform at 8pm CET on July 1st, and then available to view online for free for six months. (3 PM EST, Noon PST).

The opera is an adaptation of the epic poem In Parenthesis by Welsh poet, writer and artist David Jones. The libretto centers around Private John Ball and his comrades in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who are posted to the Somme. In Mametz Wood they enter a strange realm – outside of time, dream-like but deadly. Rather than simply reporting the horrors of the Somme, the story dares to offer hope. Even here amongst all of the destruction there is a fragile flowering of regeneration and re-birth. Bell’s score combines traditional Welsh song with moments of other-worldliness, terror, humor and transcendence.

T. S. Eliot called In Parenthesis "a work of genius." W. H. Auden considered it "...the greatest book about the First World War" that he had read, a work in which Jones did "for the British and the Germans what Homer did for the Greeks and the Trojans" in "a masterpiece" comparable in quality to The Divine Comedy. 

There will also be screenings across the U.K., including at the Pontio in Bangor on July 3, the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on July 6,  the Theatr Gwaun in Fishguard on July 9,  The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth July 16, and the Theatr Colwyn in Colwyn Bay on November 22.

Cody Quattlebaum wins James Toland Vocal Arts Competition

Cody Quattlebaum

Bass-barihunk Cody Quattlebaum took home $5,000 for winning the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition in Oakland, California on Saturday. He also won another $1,000 for winning the audience prize.

The New York singer sang "Se vuol ballare" from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and "O du, mein holder Abendstern" from Wagner's Tannhäuser. Soprano Yelena Dyachek came in second, followed by tenor Arnold Livingston Geis.

Quattlebaum is earning is Master's Degree in Voice Performance at The Juilliard School of Music, where he has performed Der Lautsprecher in Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Sylvano in Cavalli's La Callisto.

He is currently at the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, where he will perform Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. Performances are August 4 and 6 and tickets are available online.

David Pershall and Steven LaBrie win top honors at George London Foundation Competition

David Pershall & Steven LaBrie

David Pershall who recently performed Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème and Lord Cecil in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Metropolitan Opera, has won one of the top prizes at the 2016 George London Foundation Competition. Also taking away top honors was fellow barihunk Steven LaBrie, who just wrapped up a performance of Ginastera's Estancia with the New York City Ballet. He will tour with the Ballet to Paris in July performing the same program.

Other top winners included soprano Antonina Chehovska, tenor A.J. Glueckert, soprano Kirsten MacKinnon and soprano Claudia Rosenthal. Winners receeived $10,000 each Other baritones and basses taking encouragement prizes included Colin Ramsey, Justin Austin, Jared Bybee, Michael Sumuel and John Viscardi. Encouragement Prize winners received $1,000 each.

Pershall performed Starbuck's aria from Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick.

Steven LaBrie sings Largo al factotum from the Barber of Seville:

Pershal has previously won 1st Prize in the Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition, 1st Prize in the New Jersey Verismo Competition, 1st Prize in the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, 1st Prize in the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, 1st Prize in the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, 1st Prize in the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice, the Presser Music Foundation Award, and the Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence.

LaBrie won the 2013 Encouragement Award at the George London Foundation Competition, second places in both the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and the Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition as well as the Judges Award with the Opera Index Competition. In 2010, he was an encouragement award winner in Washington, DC, for the Metropolitan Opera National Council.

David Pershall performs Starbuck's aria in 2012:

Pershall can next be seen in Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Vienna State Opera. Roucher in Giordano's Andrea Chenier at the San Francisco Opera and Albert in Massenett's Werther at The Met.

LaBrie can next be seen singing the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Lyric Opera Baltimore on March 11 and 13.

Perhall is a graduate of the Merola Opera program at San Francisco Opera and the Virginia Opera Resident Artist program. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Baylor University, as well as a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music.

Steven LaBrie is a recent graduate of The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Alexander Birch Elliott in Valentine's Day Concert; Returning to Portland Opera

Alexander Birch Elliott at the San Francisco Opera

Alexander Birch Elliott, who is wrapping up a run as John Brooke in Mark Adamo's Little Women today, will be featured in a Valentine's concert on Saturday, February 13th with Opera Louisiane. He'll be joined by soprano Chelsea Basler, accompanist Michael Borowitz and cellist Susannah Montandon. They will perform opera arias, duets and Boradway showstoppers. Tickets are available online.

From April 1-5, he'll sing Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Orlando Philharmonic. This summer, he returns to the Portland Opera Festival, where he will perform Anthony in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. He previously performed Frank in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus and Belcore in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love with the company.

You can read an interview with him on the Madison Opera Blog.

Barihunk trio in Kansas City's Don Giovanni

Daniel Okulitch as Don Giovanni at NY City Opera

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is opening its 58th season with Mozart’s Don Giovanni featuring the barihunk trio of Daniel Okulitch in the title role, Joshua Bloom as Leporello and Rhys Lloyd Talbot as Masetto. Performances are on September 26 and 30 and October 2 and 4 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available online. 

The trio are also all alumni of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, with Daniel Okulitch taking part in 2002, Joshua Bloom in 2001 and 2003, and Rhys Lloyd Talbot in 2013 and 2014. Elizabeth Caballero, their Donna Elvira, was in the program with both Okulitch and Bloom. 

After Don Giovanni, Bloom will portray The Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance in October at both Théâtre de Caen and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. Okulitch will head to the Manitoba Opera where he will sing Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Talbot just completed the Young Artist program at Glimmerglass where he performed the Speaker/Second Priest in Mozart's The Magic Flute and the Apparition in Verdi's Macbeth.

Reader Submission: David Pershall

David Pershall

A reader spotted David Pershall making his role debut as Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlo at Oper Burg Gars in Vienna and asked if we'd featured him before. Although we briefly mentioned him winning the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, we had actually never featured him before despite having seen him perform scenes from Don Pasquale, Les pêcheurs de perles, and Die Fledermaus in San Francisco.

He is a graduate of the Merola Opera program at San Francisco Opera and the Virginia Opera Resident Artist program. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Baylor University, as well as a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music. In addition to winning the Jensen
Competition, he has won the the Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition, the New Jersey Verismo Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition,  the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice, the Presser Music Foundation Award, and the Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence.

Pershall joined the Vienna State Opera this season where his performances include Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and Sebastian in The Tempest. He has perviously appeared at Sarasota Opera as Count di Luna in ll Trovatore, Vero Beach Opera as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Virginia Opera as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Amarillo Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor which was broadcast on PBS, El Paso Opera as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Virginia Opera as Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles, and with the Norwegian National Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème.

He has partnered with the Beethoven Easter Festival and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra to produce three live performance albums in which he headlined as Don Pedro in Maria Padilla, Manfredo in L’Amore dei Tre Re, and Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride. 

Performances of Don Carlo run through August 8th and tickets and additional cast information is available online. Next season he will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in the title rôle of The Barber of Seville followed by performances of Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda. He'll be rotating Figaro with fellow barihunk Elliot Madore. Peshall's castmates include Ginger Costa-Jackson as Rosina and Taylor Stayton as Count Almaviva. Visit the Metropolitan Opera's website for additional information. 

Hadleigh Adams to peform biographical recital in San Francisco

Hadleigh Adams at Pinchgut Opera in Castor & Pollux and Bajazet

Kiwi barihunk Hadleigh Adams has written a 90-minute show that combines songs and arias he has sung throughout his life, along with anecdotes (both PG and R rated) to illustrate why he chose this most absurd of careers and why he knows he'll never leave. Adams traces his journey from small town New Zealand to the San Francisco Opera, the oh-so-garish lights of San Francisco's Castro District, and the thrilling and frightening experience of starting a major international career.  

We saw a private performance of the program and it's an absolute "must see" for any fan of opera.

Adams is going to perform the show publicly at San Francisco's Martuni's bar on Wednesday, March 4th at 7 pm.

Tickets are $10 each and support the Merola Opera Program, from which he graduated before becoming a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and beginning his international career. Seating is very limited. To order tickets, call Merola at (415) 565-6427, visit Merola.org or click here for tickets.

Adams has become a fan favorite in the Bay Area, where he has been acclaimed for his roles in San Francisco Opera's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Dolores Claiborne, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, and Schaunard in last winter's La Bohème. He will perform in Vivaldi's Bajazet this summer with Pinchgut Opera in Australia.

Kevin Thompson returns to San Francisco for Entführung

Kevin Thompson returns to the SF Bay Area as Osmin

Bass-barihunk Aaron Sørensen just wrapped up a successful run singing his first Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Houston Symphony. Now it's Kevin Thompson's turn to make his role debut in one of the most difficult roles for bass. The opera runs from February 13-22 at West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, California, which is a quick drive for anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area. It certainly will be worth the trip.

Thompson is returning the Bay Area where he was a huge success while with the Merola Opera training program in San Francisco. During his stint with Merola, he performed Falstaff in Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor and a stunning Basilio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. Eugene Brancoveanu, another former Merola graduate and fellow barihunk, will make his company directing debut with this production. He last appeared with the company singing Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail premiered in 1782 and contains three arias for Osmin, one of which goes down to the lowest reaches of the bass range. Mozart wrote the role of Osmin for the formidable bass Ludwig Fischer, who was a friend of the composer.

The first aria is "Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden," which advises the listener to reward your loved one with kisses and make her life great,  as well as to locking up your woman's other lovers, lest they tempt her to forget her faithfulness. 

Kevin Thompson sings Beethoven's Agnus Dei from the Missa Solemnis:

In the aria "Solche hergelaufne Laffen" Osmin graphically explains why he does not like Pedrillo. It's is mainly because Osmin and Pedrillo are both in love with Blondchen and Pedrillo is in better favor with both Blondchen and the Pasha.

After Pedrillo, Belmonte, Blondchen, and Konstanze are captured trying to escape, Osmin sings of the delight that he will have when they are all hanged in the aria "O wie will ich triumphieren," which dips down to a Low D (D2). Click HERE to listen to an amazing version by Kurt Moll.

The cast at West Bay Opera also includes Nikki Einfeld (another Merola graduate) as Kostanze, Michael Desnoyers as Belmonte, Tapan Bhat at Pedrillo adn Chelsea Hollow as Blonde. Tickets are available online. 

Edward Nelson to sing title role in Don Giovanni

Edward Nelson (Photo by James Darrah)

The Merola Opera Program has cast barihunk Edward Nelson in their upcoming performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The opera is being directed by James Darrah and conducted by Martin Katz.

The California native studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and took 1st Place at the 2013 Mid-South Region Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He has performed the title role in Britten's Owen Wingrave, Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola, the Forester in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen and Le Podestat in Bizet's Le docteur Miracle.

Edward Nelson with Yujin Kim

Edward Nelson

The remainder of the cast includes Szymon Wach as Leporello, Rhys Lloyd Talbot as Masetto, Scott Russell  as the Commendatore, Amanda Woodbury as Donna Anna, Yujin Kim as Zerlina, Benjamin Werley as Don Ottavio and Karen Chia-Ling Ho as Donna Elvira.

Performances are on Thursday, July 31 and August 2 at the Everett Auditorium in San Francisco. Tickets are available at the San Francisco Opera website.

You can follow Edward Nelson on YouTube or Facebook.

Ryan Kuster in Weber rarity "Euryanthe"

Ryan Kuster as Escamillo at Virginia Opera

Bard SummerScape 2014 is presenting Carl Maria von Weber's rarely performed Euryanthe with barihunk Ryan Kuster as Lysiart. There will be five performances running from July 25-August 3. Revivals of the complete opera are rare, especially in the United States, where it has not been seen since the Metropolitan Opera’s 1914 staging 100 years ago. A check on Opera Critic showed the last fully staged performance at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2010. Oper Frankfurt will present the opera next April with Erika Sunnegardh, Eric Cutler, Heidi Melton and James Rutherford.   

Ryan Kuster, who was part of the prestigious Merola Opera Program and Adler Fellows in San Francisco, has become an audience favorite on the West Coast.  In 2012, he made his symphonic debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic singing the role of Masetto in their highly acclaimed production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, directed by Christopher Alden and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. At the San Francisco Opera he has performed the Mandarin in Puccini's Turandot, Astolfo in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen (for families), Count Ceprano in Verdi's Rigoletto, the 4th Noble in Wagner's Lohengrin,  Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca.

The rest of the cast, which will be directed by Kevin Newbury,  includes Ellie Dehn as Euryanthe, William Burden as her fiancé Adolar, Wendy Bryn Harmer as Euryanthe’s rival Eglantine and Peter Volpe as King Ludwig. Performances will be at the beautiful Frank Gehry-designed Sosnoff Theater at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.T Tickets are available online.

Weber's greatest single success was probably his 1821 opera Der Freischütz. With his next opera, Weber wanted to break new ground. So in Euryanthe the spoken dialogue disappeared, replaced by continuous music. However, even the composer's great music couldn't save the opera from a ridiculous libretto, which has attributed to its relative obscurity. Perhaps the most well-known music from the opera is its overture, which is often performed by orchestras. It uses material from the opera, including Adolar's rebuttal of Lysiart and his second act romance.

"Hey, S--T--E--L--L--A ! ! !...A Streetcar runs through Kentucky"

Wes Mason (photo: Michael Cinquino)

Kentucky is playing a major role in the two upcoming performances of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire. We realized the popularity of the piece when we posted pictures of the LA Opera's production featuring Ryan McKinny as Stanley Kowalski and Renee Fleming as Blanche DuBois. Of course, the shirtless pictures of Ryan McKinny probably helped drive the spike in views that we saw to the site.

Wes Mason (Photos: DonSoo Choi and Doug Wonder)

The first Blue Grass State connection is obvious, as the Kentucky Opera has announced two performances of the popular American opera on February 13 and 15 of next year. Stanley will be played by one of the most compelling young artists to hit the scene in recent years, Wes Mason. Mason, who is familiar to readers of this site (yes, that's him in the sidebar modeling for our official photographer), can command a stage like few others in the business. People are still talking about his tour de force performance as Reinaldo Arenas in the 2010 world premiere of Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls with the Fort Worth Opera.

This will be his debut in the role and we suspect that he'll give past Stanley's a run for their money in the beefcake department. In addition to before night falls, we've seen the pulchritudinous singer show some skin in Handels' Giulio Cesare at the Roanoke Opera and Bizet's La Tragédie de Carmen at the Syracuse Opera.

We'll have more news about the Kentucky Opera's upcoming season, which also includes Beethoven's Fidelio, Daron Hagen's Postcard from Morocco and Puccini's La fanciulla del West. Visit their website for additional information.

Thomas Gunther in Dead Man Walking

The other connection to Kentucky is Thomas Gunther, who studied at the University of Kentucky and lives in Lexington. He's no stranger to barihunk roles, having performed Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Le mari in Poulenc's Le Mamelles de Tirésias and Joseph DeRocher in Heggie's Dead Man Walking.

Gunther is part of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, where the original work was premiered on September 19, 1998 with Renée Fleming and barihunk Rod Gilfry as Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. Remarkably, this is the first revival of the opera in San Francisco since its premiere.

The Merola production will use a version for reduced orchestra prepared by Peter Grunberg and conducted by Mark Morash. The staging will be by director José Maria Condemi. The opera will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 12.

Bay Area Reporter: "Hadleigh Adams sings out with pride"

Hadleigh Adams: Headshot and in Castor & Pollux

New Zealand barihunk Hadleigh Adams is profiled by Jason Victor Serinus in this week in San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter:

Tall, rugged baritone Hadleigh Adams, 29, must be one of the straightest spined and proudest bearinged singers on the planet. Both his appearance and his lower-pitched, resonant voice make it hard to believe that during his youth in a small New Zealand farm town, two decades before he journeyed to San Francisco and was chosen for San Francisco Opera's prestigious Adler Fellow apprentice program, he was teased mercilessly for being gay.

"I acted very different," he explained during an hour-long chat in a cafe near the War Memorial Opera House. "I acted very effeminately. Not by choice; it's just how I was."

This didn't make life easy for him at an all-boys school.

"I wanted to fit in," he says. "I was two years ahead in my academic work because I was a smart kid. I played hockey and tennis, which were the gayer sports from a high-school boy point of view. I also did a lot of music, and I loved music. If you loved music, that meant you were gay.

"So it was horrible. I was teased a lot, and had very few friends. But I didn't really mind it or care, because while I loved my family and my country, which is the most beautiful place in the world, I always knew I was destined for more than a lot of my classmates. Not to say that more is better, or being on the stage or escaping is better, but I knew, from the age of 12 or 13, that I was destined for more in my life."

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE

Reader Submission: Alexander Elliott

Alexander Elliott preparing for Pirates of Penzance

The Portland Opera Resident Young Artist Program was one of the first recipients of a Barihunks Grant from our annual calendar proceeds. So we were particularly delighted when our latest reader submission was one of the young artists performing Samuel in Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance with the company.

Alexander Elliott is a second year young artist who has performed in recital with the company, as well sung the Shoe Salesman in Dominick Argento's Postcard from Morocco. He was also their cover for Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.  Our reader also shared this great photo of Alexander Elliott get used to his sword for the show, which opens on May 9 and runs through May 17. Tickets are available online. The Pirate King is being sung by one of the most famous barihunks in the world, Daniel Okulitch.

Elliott was previously an apprentice artist with the Central City Opera, where he sang the role of Frank in Ned Rorem’s Our Town. This summer, he joins the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. They are performing Mozart's Don Giovanni and a reduced orchestral version of André Previn's Streetcar Named Desire.

Other career highlights have includes the Captain in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Périchaud in La Rondine with Des Moines Metro Opera as well as Count Almaviva in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro with the Tulsa Opera opposite fellow barihunk Seth Carico.

You can hear audio of him at his website.

All-star "Three Barihunks" concert coming to Edmonton

Philippe Sly, Elliot Madore & Gordon Bintner (L-R)

We can't begin to tell you how often we're contacted because someone wants to put on a "Three Barihunks" concert, yet they never seem to come to fruition. It looks like the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Edmonton Opera are going to beat everyone to the punch and they're appropriating the name "No Tenors Allowed" from the 1999 concerts and recording by Thomas Hampson and Samuel Ramey. [The funniest barihunk concert proposal we heard about was going to be called "No Shirts Allowed" and it was supposed to be an AIDS fundraiser in New York].

The Edmonton team has managed to bring in three of the hottest and most vocally gifted baritones singing in the world today and they all happen to be Canadians. Gordon Bintner, Elliot Madore, and Philippe Sly will join forces with conductor Bill Eddins for a program of from music from Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Macbeth, Rossini's Barber of Seville, and Wagner's Tannhäuser.

The concert will be on Monday, March 24, 2014 at 7:30 PM at Enmax Hall in the Winspear Centre in Edmonton. For lovers of barihunks, we have to think that this is the hottest ticket of 2014! We've heard all three singers live and we can pretty much guarantee a night of visual and aural bliss. You can listen to six audio selections from Elliot Madore on his website.

Phillipe Sly sings Gustav Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen":

 Gordon Binter performs at FestiVoix:

This season, Elliot Madore continues as a member of the ensemble at Opernhaus Zürich where he made his role debut as Valentin in Jan Philipp Gloger’s new production of Gounod's Faust. The title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni will serve as his return to both Oper Philadelphia and the Glyndebourne Festival in the summer of 2014. Future seasons will see him at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zurich, Glyndebourne Festival, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.

Philippe Sly continues as an Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera in the 2013 – 2014 season. He will make his debut at Opéra de Lyon in Laurent Pelly’s production of Rossini's Le comte Ory as Raimbaud and will be seen as Bartolo in San Francisco Opera’s Barber for Families. He also opens the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s season as Méphistophélès in concert performances of Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust under Kent Nagano. In concert, Sly makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in Fauré’s Requiem and with Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal in Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, both under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.  

In the past few months, Gordon Bintner made his debut in Berlin with the role of Bill in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with Ensemble Modern and Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at l’Opera de Montreal. He made his European debut singing the role of Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème with Angers-Nantes Opera in France. Other appearances included the role of Nardo in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera at the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. Operatic performances in 2014 include the role of Don Alfonso in the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio’s production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

Nashville Opera's self-proclaimed HUNKFEST

Craig Verm in Nashville Opera's The Pearl Fishers

We couldn't agree more with Nashville Opera's artistic director John Hoomes that Craig Verm and Ben Wager are "aural candy as much as they are eye candy." He should know, as he's cast the two singers in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers that still has performances tonight and Saturday.

Although both singers are well known as two of the sexiest men in opera, they have some serious vocal credentials, as well. Verm received his Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and graduated cum laude from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He was also a 2006 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is also a former member of the young artist programs of Santa Fe Opera and Cincinnati Opera.

Wager was a 2008 as a member of the prestigious Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera and a 2009 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. In 2009, he became a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has sung Panthus in Les Troyens, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata, Angelotti in Tosca, and Escamillo in Carmen.

They both are rapidly emerging as major talents on the international stage, who we'll want to keep our eyes and ears on in the coming years.

Craig Verm, who may have the most perfect chest in opera, just wrapped up another role where he is cast shirtless - Britten's Billy Budd in Chile. So being cast in Nashville in a role that takes place on the beach makes perfect sense.

We love that the Nashville Scene picked up on the sexy production with the headline, "Buff baritones spice up Nashville Opera's production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers: Raiders of the Lost Hunks." They go on to state that The Pearl Fishers might be the first "ladies night out" not unlike a trip to see the Chippendales. We've always maintained the belief at Barihunks that a sexy body will get them in the door, but great singing will bring them back.

We think that the Nashville Opera has it right on both accounts.

Craig Verm is also featured in the month of August in our new charity calendar. He appears along with Michael Mayes, Aaron Sorensen and Timothy McDevitt. You purchase your copy today by clicking HERE. Buy one for a friend, too, and join us in helping out the next generation of great singers.

Mark Diamond Brings Rock Star Hair to Woodstock

Mark Diamond

If you were gonna perform an afternoon of opera at Woodstock, home of the 3-day rock 'n' roll concert in 1969, you might as well hire a singer with rock star hair. Pentangle Arts is bringing in barihunk Mark Diamond for their "Opera Showcase" this weekend. Diamond in his young career has become as well known for his incredible hair, as his luscious baritone.

He'll be joining soprano Lauren Snouffer on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 4 p.m. for a concert at Woodstock's North Universalist Chapel. The two singers were both part of the Houston Grand Opera Studio Artists program. Two Houston Opera donors who live in the area are sponsoring the concert.

In Houston, Diamond performed Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, the Steersman in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and covered Don Giovanni, Taddeo in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri and Gaylord Ravenal in the musical Showboat. He also performed Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Aspen Music Festival.

Mark Diamond sings The Impossible Dream:

A native of Augusta, Georgia, Mark Diamond received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Georgia Southern University and pursued studies for a Master's degree in vocal performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In 2011, he was a member of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, where he sang the title role of Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He previously performed in New York in 2010, when he sang the role of Top in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land at the Glimmerglass Festival.

For more info about the Opera Showcase concert visit their website or call 802-457-3981.

Canadian Barihunks featured on CBC's "30 under 30"

The CBC recently ran a feature called "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30." They surveyed Canada's conservatories, music competitions and professional training programs to come up with their list. Although we at Barihunks take the word "HOT" to mean sexy, it appears that they are going for a double meaning, with "HOT" also meaning "musicians with talent to keep an eye on," since they range in age from 8 to 28.

Both male singers featured are baritones who have appeared on our site and Philippe Sly even gets mentioned for regularly appearing on our site. We've heard other singers joke that Gordon Bintner is incapable of taking a bad picture and we couldn't agree more. Both Bintner and Sly are not only easy on the eyes, but they are indeed two of the most gifted musicians coming out of Canada.

As an aside, the featured soprano Wallis Giunta, is the girlfriend of barihunk John Brancy, who we've featured extensively of late. Small world!
 

Gordon Bintner (photo: Emily Ding)

Gordon Bintner (baritone)

Age: 25
From: Regina, Sask.
Hot because: The last 12 months have been huge for Bintner: he won first prize and the People's Choice Award at the 2012 Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Competition, and in May he made his debut with L'Opéra de Montréal singing Lescaut in Massenet's Manon. We think he looks too sweet to portray womanizing Don Giovanni, but Bintner says it's his dream role.

Upcoming:
- February 2014, Toronto, Ont.: the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte with the COC's Ensemble Studio.

Philippe Sly (photo: Adam Scotti)

Philippe Sly (bass-baritone)

Age: 24
From: Ottawa, Ont.
Hot because: Sly has a way of impressing audiences and judges. He’s won both the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (which come with a cool $15,000 prize) and the Montreal International Musical Competition (add another $55,000 in winnings). Oh, he also makes frequent appearances on the popular Barihunks blog.

Upcoming:
- Sept. 12,15,16, Montreal, Que.: Berlioz’s Damnation de Faust with l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
- Dec. 6,7, Winnipeg, Man.: Handel’s Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
- March 15, Philadelphia, Penn.: Fauré’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

You can see the entire list at the CBC website. 

Andrew Garland to appear in Ned Rorem tribute

Andrew Garland

We recently featured Andrew Garland in the Cincinnati Opera's announcement of their new season. We've now learned that he's appearing in the new season of the New York Festival of Song under the auspices of the beloved Steven Blier.

He will be joined by the amazing mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey in a musical birthday tribute to the great American composer Ned Rorem. Although Rorem wrote opera, the concert will present highlights from his successful career as a songwriter. Rorem has been dubbed "America's Schubert" because of the 500 songs that he has written in his 90 years, many of which regularly appear on recital programs. Lindsey and Garland will also perform works by Rorem's friends and inspirations, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, Theodore Chanler, Aaron Copland, Noël Coward, Francis Poulenc, and Virgil Thomson. 

Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem, who was born on October 23, 1923 in Richmond, Indiana, is expected to be in attendance. Steven Blier and Michael Barrett will perform on the piano. The concert is November 5th at 8 PM. You can purchase tickets online or by calling 212-501-3330.

The remainder of the NY Festival of Song season includes "Cubans in Paris, Cubans at Home" on December 5 featuring soprano Corinne Winters, tenor Jeffrey Picón and baritone Ricardo Herrera, as well as "Warsaw Serenade" on February 18 with the talented tenor Joseph Kaiser, who will be joined by soprano  Dina Kuznetsova.