Introducing Canadian barihunk Alex Halliday

Canadian barihunk Alex Halliday

Barihunk Alex Halliday is the newest member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, along with soprano Midori Marsh, baritone Jonah Spungin and pianist Frances Thielman. They will join the existing artists, Matthew Cairns, Vartan Gabrielian, Jamie Groote, Anna-Sophie Neher and Alex Soloway.

Previous members of the COC Ensemble Studio include Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, John Fanning, Wendy Nielsen, Joseph Kaiser, David Pomeroy, Allyson McHardy, and Krisztina Szabó.

Halliday hails from St. John’s, Newfoundland and recently completed his Master of Music in Opera Performance at the University of Toronto. His roles there included Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Frank Erickson in George Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing, Carl Olsen in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, Detective Brinks in Michael Albano’s Who Killed Adriana?, and Nardo in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera. 

Halliday was a member of the Opera Roadshow for three years, concluding with his role as the Fisherman in Dean Burry’s La Nez de la Sorcière. In 2019, he performed the role of Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème with COSÌ Connection and the Father in Paola Prestini and Royce Vavrek’s Silent Light at the BANFF Centre. He has also been a member of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir.

Trio of barihunks joins Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program

Michael Adams, Timothy J. Bruno and Christopher Kenney (L-R)

The Washington National Opera has announced their incoming members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, which begins in September. Three low male voices will be included, including Michael Adams, who has been featured regularly on this site. Joining him will be bass Timothy J. Bruno and baritone Christopher Kenney.

This year's young artists will star in performances of Handel's Alcina and Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Kennedy Center Opera House, participate in the American Opera Initiative Festival's Proving Up, a new opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, as well as appear in recitals and concerts across the Washington, D.C. region. Proving Up is based on a short story by Karen Russell, which tells the story of a Nebraskan family homesteading in the late 19th century.

Michael Adams sings "Pensa a chi geme" from Handel's Alcina:

Joining the trio of low voices will be tenor Frederick Ballentine, mezzo Eliza Bonet, mezzo Allegra De Vita, tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, soprano Leah Hawkins, pianist Paul Jarski, pianist Christopher Kenney, soprano Madison Leonard, tenor Alexander McKissick and soprano Alexandria Shiner.

PROTOTYPE Festival to present Breaking the Waves

John Moore in Opera Philadelphia's Breaking the Waves

The PROTOTYPE Festival, along with Beth Morrison Projects will present Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves on January 6, 7, and 9 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.

The piece premiered at Opera Philadelphia premiered on September 22 at Opera Philadelphi with the barihunk John Moore as the main protagonist Jan Nyman. He will reprise the role in with the PROTOTYPE Festival along with co-star Kiera Duffy as Bess McNeill. Singing the role of the Church Councilman is Marcus DeLoach, who has also appeared on this site.

The opera was a co-commission between Opera Philadelphia and Beth Morrison Projects. In Philadelphia, the opera had a "for mature audiences" warning as both leads appear nude.

The opera is based on the Oscar-nominated 1996 film by Lars von Trier. The libretto tells the story of Bess McNeill (sung by Kiera Duffy), a religious young woman with a deep love for her husband Jan, a handsome oil rig worker. When Jan becomes paralyzed in an off-shore accident, her marital vows are put to the test as he encourages her to seek other lovers and return to his bedside to tell him of her sexual activities. He insists that the stories will feel like they are making love together and keep him alive. Bess’s increasing selflessness leads to a finale of divine grace, but at great cost.

Tickets for all performances are available online. 

The PROTOTYPE Festival will also present the world premiere of Matt Marks' Mata Hari with barihunk Joshua Jeremiah, the New York premiere of David Lang's Anatomy Theater, the New York premiere of M. Lamar and Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's Funeral Doom Spiritual, the world premiere of Sarah Small's Secondary Dominance, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus’ newest project Silent Voices and Julian Wachner's Rev.24.

Order your 2017 Barihunks in Bed calendar TODAY, 

so it arrives before the New Year.  

 

Vittorio Prato

 

Barihunk John Moore in Breaking the Waves (with mature audience warning)

Barihunk John Moore and Kiera Duffy

Opera Philadelphia premiered Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves, which includes the barihunk duo of John Moore as the main protagonist Jan Nyman and Zachary James as Terry. Mazzoli is a graduate of Opera Philadelphia’s Composer in Residence program. The opera has a "for mature audiences" warning as both leads appear nude.

The opera is based on the Oscar-nominated 1996 film by Lars von Trier. The libretto tells the story of Bess McNeill (sung by Kiera Duffy), a religious young woman with a deep love for her husband Jan, a handsome oil rig worker. When Jan becomes paralyzed in an off-shore accident, her marital vows are put to the test as he encourages her to seek other lovers and return to his bedside to tell him of her sexual activities. He insists that the stories will feel like they are making love together and keep him alive. Bess’s increasing selflessness leads to a finale of divine grace, but at great cost.

There is one remaining performance on October 1st and tickets are available online. The cast also includes the rising tenor sensation David Portillo, Eve Gigliotti, Marcus DeLoach and Patricia Schuman.

Tobias Greenhalgh to appear in Ricky Ian Gordon's "27"

Tobias Greenhalgh

American barihunk Tobias Greenhalgh will appear in Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's "27" with MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) on October 20 and 21. As a Gerdine Young Artist at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Greenhalgh created the roles of Leo Stein and Man Ray in the world premiere of the opera. 

"27" explores the relationship between Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, who hosted regular salon evenings at their Paris home at 27 Rue de Fleurus, with such guests as Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray, Henri Matisse and Ernest Hemingway. Commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, "27" received its world premiere in June 2014. 

The production was specially adapted by the composer for MasterVoices as a semi-staged production under the direction of James Robinson. Gordon expanded portions of the opera originally sung by a small male ensemble and re-scored them for the full MasterVoices chorus.The cast also features mezzo Stephanie Blythe as Gertrude Stein, Heidi Stober as Alice B. Toklas, Theo Lebow, Tobias Greenhalgh, and Daniel Brevik.

 Tobias Greenhalgh sings Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Let Beauty Awake"  

"27" explores the relationship between Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, who hosted regular salon evenings at their Paris home at 27 Rue de Fleurus, with such guests as Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray, Henri Matisse and Ernest Hemingway. Commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, 27 received its world premiere in June 2014. For the New York Premiere, Ricky Ian Gordon has specially added new sections for the MasterVoices chorus. 

Tickets are available online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix® at 212-581-1212.

Upcoming engagements for Greenhalgh include Orff's Carmina Burana with the Noord Nederlands Orkest, Tom Joad in Ricky Ian Gordon's Grapes of Wrath with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus at the Franz Lehàr Festival at Bad Ischl, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes and Littore/Tribune in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Theater an der Wien, Escamillo in Carmen, The Father in Hansel and Gretel at the Wiener Kammeroper, and Morales in Carmen with Palm Beach Opera.

Get to know the Fort Worth Opera singers

Baritones Trevor Martin, Matt Moeller, Wes Mason, Stephen Clark and Wes Gentile

We made our annual trek to the Fort Worth Opera Festival again this year and hosted another barihunk lunch. It was attended by baritones Trevor Martin, Matt Moeller, Wes Mason, Stephen Clark and Wes Gentile. Normally, we always invite a single Honorary Tenor, but this year we had three of them, as Dane Suarez, Brian Wallin and Kevin Newell joined us. 

In an effort to get to know the singers a little better this year, we asked them some questions, which we'd like to share with our readers. Here are the baritone responses.

I'm a self-proclaimed expert on:

Trevor Martin: Game of Thrones

Matt Moeller: College Sports

Wes Mason: Sharks

Stephen Clark: The Bible

Wes Gentile: Nicolas Cage

David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's next opera should be about [blank] and feature me as [blank]

Trevor Martin: Bruce Jenner....Bruce Jenner

Matt Moeller: Game of Thrones...All the Dragons

Wes Mason: The Wild West...Doc Holliday

Stephen Clark: Mice Minutes...Mouse #3

Wes Gentile: Neal DeGrasse Tyson...A Dying Star

Secret Midnight Snack:

Trevor Martin: Whiteburger

Matt Moeller: Sweet potato chips

Wes Mason: Buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks

Stephen Clark: Wendy's

Wes Gentile: Dark chocolate-covered raisins

At age 10 I dreamed of being a....

Trevor Martin: Skywalker in Star Wars

Matt Moeller: Baseball player

Wes Mason: Marine Biologist

Stephen Clark: Writer

Wes Gentile: Primatologist

My pet peave is...

Trevor Martin: Bad drivers

Matt Moeller: Chewing with your mouth open

Wes Mason: Entitlement

Stephen Clark: Ungrateful people

Wes Gentile: Explaining a punchline

My least favorite character in opera is...

Trevor Martin: Micaëla

Matt Moeller: Gianetta

Wes Mason: Everyone in La sonnambula

Stephen Clark: Carmen

Wes Gentile: Chairman Mao's wife

Tenors Dane Suarez, Brian Wallin and Kevin Newell

Here are the tenor responses.

I'm a self-proclaimed expert on:

Dane Suarez: Guessing temperatures with my hands

Brian Wallin: Trolling Facebook for funny animal videos

Kevin Newell: [Declined to answer]

David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's next opera should be about [blank] and feature me as [blank]:

Dane Suarez: Taylor the latte boy...Taylor

Brian Wallin: A cat....the owner

Kevin Newell: Dune...A sand worm

Secret Midnight Snack:

Dane Suarez: Cheese

Brian Wallin: Sonic

Kevin Newell: Ben & Jerry's 

At age 10 I dreamed of being a(n)....

Dane Suarez: Artist

Brian Wallin: NASCAR driver

Kevin Newell: Butler

My pet peave is...

Dane Suarez: Taylor Swift

Brian Wallin: Mouth noises

Kevin Newell: Social media

My least favorite character in opera is...

Dane Suarez: Micaëla

Brian Wallin: Pamina

Kevin Newell: Micaëla

Barihunks to portray JFK and LBJ in Fort Worth

Matthew Worth and Daniel Okulitch

One of America's most innovative opera companies, the Fort Worth Opera has collaborated with the American Lyric Theater to produce an opera based on President John F. Kennedy's final twelve hours. The opera will star two of the world's most popular barihunks in the lead roles, as Matthew Worth takes on JFK and Daniel Okulitch portrays LBJ. Worth shares both the good looks and New England charm of our 35th President, while Okulitch matches the Vice President's 6' 4" frame.

Joining them in the cast will be the amazing mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Jackie Kennedy, Talise Trevigne as hotel maid Clara Harris, and the thrilling tenor Sean Panikkar as JFK's secret service agent and confidant, Henry Rathbone. The opera is being written by composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek, who collaborated on the critically acclaimed opera Dog Days in 2012.

The opera, which is slated to premiere at the Fort Worth Opera's 2016 season, is the perfect setting, as it's the last place that the President slept before being gunned down in Dallas. JFK left the Hotel Texas (now the Fort Worth Hilton) on the rain-soaked morning of November 22, 1963, and spoke to thousands who had waited in the rain to hear him speak. Those remarks were to be his final public speech.

The American Lyric Theater and the Collegiate Chorale will produce a workshop of the opera-in-progress this November, which will bring together the world-premiere cast together for the first time. On Tuesday, November 25 at 7:00 PM, American Lyric Theater will present InsightALT: JFK at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. The InsightALT series provides the public with the opportunity to look inside the process of creating new operas at all stages of their development through a combination of performance and discussion with the creative artists behind these new works. InsightALT: JFK will feature excerpts from the opera, as well as a discussion, moderated by ALT artistic director Larry Edelson, between composer David T. Little, librettist Royce Vavrek, Fort Worth Opera's General Director Darren K. Woods, and the cast members.

In the 2015 season, the Fort Worth Opera will present David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's Dog Days, along with Verdi's La traviata and Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, starring barihunk Wes Mason in the title role. Daniel Okulitch can next be seen in September with the Milwaukee Symphony singing Mozart's Don Giovanni with André Courville as Masetto and Matthew Rose as Leporello. You can listen to Matthew Worth on a live stream of Bernstein's Candide on WCRB on August 17th from the Tanglewood Festival.

Three Barihunks to perform in "Vavrek and Vrebalov"

Jonathan Estabrooks, Sidney Outlaw and Zachary James

Barihunks seem to be showing up in bunches these days and we're loving it. Our recent post about the Seattle Opera's The Consul actually featured four barihunks in one production. On the opposite coast, we have a barihunk triumverate performing in "Vavrek and Vrebalov" at The National Opera Center, which is being presented by the American Lyric Theater. The performance features Jonathan Estabrooks, Sidney Outlaw and Zachary James in selections from librettist Royce Vavrek and Composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, who were both Resident Artists at the National Opera Center.

The program will include Nora at the Altar-Rail, a short, one-act opera written by composer Jay Anthony Gach with Royce Vavrek as librettist, excerpts from Aleksandra Vrebalov’s first full-length opera, Mileva, and arias and scenes written by Vavrek with some of his favorite collaborators, including David T. Little (a scene from Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera), Jeff Myers (scenes from The Hunger Art, and Maren of Vardo), Rachel Peters (a scene from Prairie Dogs), Andrew Gerle (a scene from The Beach), and Missy Mazzoli (scenes from Song from the Uproar and Breaking the Waves - a new opera in development).

A scene from Aleksandra Vrebalov's Mileva:

Aleksandra Vrebalov is a Serbian composer based in New York City. She studied composition with Miroslav Statkic at Novi Sad University, then with Zoran Erić at Belgrade University, Elinor Armer at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Ivana Loudova at the Prague Academy of Music. She has received commissions from Kronos Quartet, Carnegie Hall, Barlow Endowment, Festival Ballet Providence, Merkin Concert Hall Zoom Series. Vrebalov is also a co-founder of South Oxford Six, a composers' collective in New York.

Vavrek has become one of the most in-demand librettists in the country, creating works for many companies including Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Fort Worth Opera, and Beth Morrison Projects.

The performance is at 3 PM on February 23 at OPERA America in New York City. Tickets are $20 and are available online.