Ryan Kuster to close Opera Colorado season as Figaro

Ryan Kuster

Bass-barihunk Ryan Kuster will star in the title role of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which closes the 2018-19 Opera Colorado season. The singer previously appeared as Escamillo with the company in Bizet's Carmen.

Kuster will be joined by soprano Maureen McKay as Susanna, bass-baritone Simone Alberghini as Count Almaviva, soprano Ellie Dehn as Donna Anna,  mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala as Cherubino, mezzo-soprano Margaret Gawrysiak as Marcellina and bass-baritone Stefano de Peppo making his Opera Colorado debut as Dr. Bartolo.
 
Also joining the the cast are members of Opera Colorado's 2018-19 Artist in Residence Program, including tenor Aaren Rivard, as both Don Basilio and Don Curzio, baritone Eric McConnell as Antonio and soprano Rebekah Howell as Barbarina.

The production opens Saturday, May 4, and runs through Sunday, May 12. For tickets and information, visit the Opera Colorado online.

John Brancy in free recital at Governor's Park

John Brancy and Peter Dugan

John Brancy will rejoin his frequent collaborator Peter Dugan for a recital of music including the works of Gershwin, Dvorak, Bernstein, Chopin and the Beatles. The concert will be at Governors Island at Nolan Park in New York on Sunday, May 31. The concert is free to the public.

This summer, he'll be making his company debut as Dandini in Rossini's Cenerentola with Opera Saratoga at the Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park. Performances run from July 2- 26. Additional information is available online. He'll be joined by fellow barihunk Ryan Kuster as the mysterious philosopher Alidoro. Additional information is available online.

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.

Chris Carr awarded Igor Gorin Memorial Award

Chris Carr & Ryan Kuster

The coveted Igor Gorin Memorial Award is being awarded to a barihunk for the second consecutive year, as Chris Carr will be the 2014 recipient. Last year's winner was Ryan Kuster. Mary Gorin created the Igor Gorin Memorial Award to honor her husband, the late Russian baritone Igor Gorin, by financially assisting talented young vocalists at the beginning of their careers.

Chris Carr is the baritone studio artist at Arizona Opera for the 2013-2014 season.  Chris attended Simpson College and the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he studied with and continues to study with renowned tenor Vinson Cole.  He was a district winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in both 2011 and 2012 and is a 2013 alumnus of the San Francisco Opera Center Merola Program. He will be using the award to support his next audition season as he attempts to move from young artist work to professional work.

Chris Carr will be performing Baron Douphol in Verdi's La traviata from February 28-March 9 and Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale with the Arizona Opera from April 12-27.

Ryan Kuster will perform Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen at the Virginia Opera from March 21 to April 13 and again with Opera Colorado from May 3-11.

Ryan Kuster to perform in Adler Fellows Concert

Ryan Kuster

Barihunk Ryan Kuster will join seven other Adler Fellows for a gala concert on November 30 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. The ten singers are promising young artists wrapping up their activities in a performance-oriented program under the auspices of the San Francisco Opera Center. Tickets are available at the San Francisco Opera website.

Kuster will perform “Alfin questo Corsaro è mio prigione…Cento leggiadre vergini” from Verdi's Il Corsaro with fellow baritone Joo Won Kang, “Hai già vinta la causa…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and “Sì, tutto cangerà…Là del ciel nell’arcano profondo” from Rossini's La Cenerentola with mezzo Laura Krumm. You'll also get a chance to see the thrilling young tenor Brian Jagde sing “Forse la soglia attinse…Ma se m’è forza perderti” from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.

Former Adler Fellows include barihunks John Relyea and Mel Ulrich;  sopranos Nicolle Foland, Nancy Gustafson, Mary Mills, Patricia Racette, Ruth Ann Swenson and Deborah Voigt; mezzo-sopranos Zheng Cao and Dolora Zajick; countertenor Brian Asawa; tenors Alek Shrader and Thomas Glenn; baritones David Okerlund, Monte Pederson and Mark Delavan.

Next year's class includes two barihunks who we've covered extensively for their matinee idol looks, but also happen to be two incredibly gifted singers: Hadleigh Adams and Phillipe Sly.

You can help support young artists like those in the Adler program by purchasing our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Get in the holiday season early by purchasing it today. What are you waiting for?

Don Giovanni: Good News, Bad News

Mariusz Kwiecien & Ryan Kuster starring in exciting new Don Giovanni in L.A.

It's no secret that Mozart's "Don Giovanni" is one of our favorite operas at Barihunks. With the potential to have four barihunks in a cast and a plot full of sex and sexual innuendo, productions of Don Giovanni often provide a feast for the eyes and ears.

We were thrilled when we learned that conducting wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel was performing the opera at Disney Hall in May 2012. The production team might be one of the greatest ever assembled for an opera, headed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, who will design the sets (and who designed Diseny Hall). The costumes for the production will be made by designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who created the costumes for the movie "Black Swan." The performance will be directed by Christopher Alden, who had previously had great success with the opera. In the title role will be barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien and the Masetto will be Ryan Kuster. Hunkentenor fans will be thrilled to learn that the Don Ottavio will be Pavol Breslik.

Click HERE for tickets and performance dates. 

We also have some bad news concerning Don Giovanni. The San Antonio Opera is the latest classical music organization to suffer financial hardship. The current cash crunch has forced the company to cancel the February performances of the Mozart classic and close their offices. A brief announcement from the company stated:

The San Antonio Opera Board of Directors announced today that it has cancelled the February production of "Don Giovanni".

San Antonio Opera will use the hiatus to attempt to address the organization's financial obligations with creditors as well as plan for the next phase in the future of the regional opera company.

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Andrew Garland, Alex Esposito & Ryan Kuster Updates; Schrott Out in Dresden

Ryan Kuster (L), Andrew Garland (C) and Alex Esposito

Today is a miscellaneous Friday for us, which we're going to use to update you on four of our favorite barihunks. They also happen to be three of the most talented singers to be making their mark in the opera world today.

Our favorite redhead, Andrew Garland, recently finished recording "American Portraits" for GPR records, which is due out in 2012. He can next be heard in Handel's "Messiah" with the Boston Baroque on December 9 and 10.  Here he is singing "A Reverie" from the song cycle 'Battle Pieces' by Paul Phillips, which is based on poems by Herman Melville. The world premiere was on October 16, 2011 with the Pioneer Valley Symphony in Greenfield, Massachusetts.



We have deservedly dubbed Alex Esposito the greatest Leporello in the world today and it continues to be a major role on his schedule. His work as a Mozart specialist in general has been recognized by the most prestigious opera companies in the world, who keep engaging him for the master's leading roles. He's keeping a busy schedule singing his signature role as Don Giovanni's sidekick with a recent run at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and now taking it to the Vienna Staatsoper, which opens on December 11. He then switches Mozart roles, singing Papageno at La Scala in February and Guglielmo in Toulouse in May 2012. For a change of pace, here he is singing the aria "Accusata di furto" from  Gioachino Rossini's "La gazza ladra," which is best known for its overture. The performance is from a gala at the Deutsche Oper Berlinon November 5, 2011.



Fans of Ryan Kuster in San Francisco were treated to this amazing singer at the San Francisco Opera's "The Future is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert." The first-year Adler Fellow continues to generate a genuine buzz among opera cognoscenti and he didn't disappoint last night with a rousing and vocally eloquent performance of "Aprite un po' quegli' occhi" from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." He was then given the unenviable task of singing opposite Leah Crocetto, who many believe will be the next reigning Verdi soprano. The duo sang "Il padre tuo...Tu piniscimi" and literally brought down the house.

And speaking of duos...

If you think the Germans are upset at having to carry the load of the European debt crisis, you should have seen the reaction when the Semperoper Dresden announced that Anna Netrebko and barihunk hubby Erwin Schrott would not be performing in two New Year's Eve Concerts. Opera's most famoust couple were replaced by sopranos Angela Denoke and Ana Maria Labin.  The two concerts were sold out, but the ticket office is being besieged with refund requests. The change was made with little fanfare, as Netrebko and Schrott's names mysteriously disappeared from the website overnight.

We're going to announce our first two recipients for a charitable donation from our our 2012 Barihunks calendar in the next few days. We appreciate everyone's enthusiastic support for the calendar, but encourage those who haven't purchased one to do so now, so we can support additional programs. Also, it's not to late to write us at Barihunks@gmail.com and tell us why your young artist program is deserving of a donation from the calendar.

San Francisco Opera Delivers Another Great "Don Giovanni"

Ryan Kuster: What was Zerlina thinking?

There has been so much attention paid to the Met's "Don Giovanni" with the last minute cancellation and then probable return of Mariusz Kwiecien, that the opera world has almost forgotten about the Mozart classic opening on the Left Coast.

Regular readers of this site will know that Mariusz Kwiecien's performance of Don Giovanni at the San Francisco Opera was one of the inspirations for this website. In a world of competitive Don Giovanni's, including Teddy Tahu Rhodes' return to the role at Opera Australia, it's nice to see that the San Francisco Opera continues to deliver solid, well-cast performances of the opera.  To top it off, the performances are being led by their extremely popular music director Nicola Luisotti.

Lucas Meachem

The San Francisco Opera's "Don Giovanni" opened on Saturday night with a trio of men that would be the envy of any opera company: The vocally thrilling Lucas Meachem as the Don, Marco Vinco in his U.S. debut at Leporello and future superstar and certified barihunk Ryan Kuster as Masetto. In a bit of fantasy casting, the amazingly talented Kate Lindsey is Zerlina.

Ryan Kuster is a first-year Adler Fellow, recent graduate of the 2010 Merola Opera Program and a former participant in Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts. He is performing a number of roles at the San Francisco Opera this season, including a Mandarin (Turandot), Astolfo (Lucrezia Borgia), Masetto (Don Giovanni), and Escamillo (Carmen).



Performances run through November 10th and tickets and additional cast information are available at the San Francisco Opera website.

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Ryan Kuster in 9/11 Tribute & SF Opera Fall Season; Hampson's 9/11 opera

Ryan Kuster (L) & Thomas Hampson (R)

One of the most gifted young barihunks on the operatic horizon Ryan Kuster, who we've featured previously on this site. He was a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia before participating in San Francisco Opera's prestigious Adler Fellowship Program.

Kuster will be performing in the city of San Francisco's official tribute to the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack. The city and the San Francisco Opera have teamed up for a performance of Mozart's Requiem at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park at 2 PM today. Kuster will be joined by fellow singers Nadine Sierra, Maya Layhani and Daniel Montenegro along with maestro Nicola Luisotti.

The San Francisco Opera has wisely engaged the future star in a number of this season's operas. Kuster will perform Escamillo in Carmen, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Astolfo in Lucrezia Borgia and a Mandarin in Turandot. For performance and ticket information visit the San Francisco Opera website.



The San Francisco Opera is also premiering composer Christopher Theofanidis' "Heart of a Soldier," which opened last night. The opera tells the story of Rick Rescorla, a British-born adventurer who fought in Vietnam before settling in New York as head of security for a brokerage firm based in the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, his extraordinary courage and calmness in a crisis paid off: Rescorla led all of the 2,700 people under his care to safety—literally singing them down the stairs—before heading back into the burning building for one last check. He never emerged.

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Wolf-Ferrari at Wolf Trap

Ryan Kuster & Kenneth Kellogg

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's seldom performed opera "Le donne curiose" (The Curious Women) is currently being performed at the Barn at Wolf Trap with two talented young barihunks, Ryan Kuster and Kenneth Kellogg.  Wolf-Ferrari was a turn-of-the-20th-century composer whose heart remained with 19th-century romantics. “The Curious Women,” premiered in 1903 and has not been performed in the United States since its debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1912.

The Curious Women at Wolf Trap

There is one performance remaining on June 25 at 7 PM. Click HERE for ticket and additional cast information. 

Here is some rehearsal footage from this production:



Perhaps the best known piece from the opera is the overture, which is conducted by the great Arturo Toscanini in this performance:



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Ryan Kuster Profiled; Joins Barihunks in Met Auditions

Ryan Kuster: Backstage and Onstage

Ryan Kuster was recently featured in his hometown paper, the Jacksonville Journal-Courier, in anticipation of his appearance at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. You can read the entire article HERE.

The Met auditions have a long tradition of launching major operatic careers. Past winners include Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Grace Bumbry, Teresa Stratas, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman and Federica von Stade. For those unfamiliar with the competition, we highly recommend watching the documentary The Audition. 

Kuster will compete in a closed audition on March 6th for a chance to compete in the Grand Finals Concert on March 13, which will be hosted by mezzo Joyce DiDonato. The first round includes twenty-two young artists, which is dominated by nine baritones. Two that we'll have our eye on besides Kuster are Nicholas Masters, who we featured on this site a year ago,  and Canadian Philippe Sly.

Sly, who we heard was a riveting Nick Shadow in Opera McGill's production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress will be joining the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco this year.

Nicholas Masters & Philippe Sly

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A New Class of Barihunks at Merola

[Ryan Kuster & Benjamin Covey; photos by Kristen Loken Anstey]

Once again, San Francisco's beloved Merola training program has provided opera lovers with a new class of barihunks. Two of them, Ryan Kuster and Dan Kempson, have previously appeared on the site. Dan Kempson appeared when he portrayed Tarquinius at Pittsburgh Opera in one of our favorite operas "The Rape of Lucretia." Ryan Kuster appeared on the site after a fan at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia brought him to our attention.

The two newcomers to the site are Benjamin Covey and Thomas Florio. Covey is another in our long line of Canadian barihunks, which includes Daniel Okulitch, Mike Nyby, John Relyea, Tyler Duncan, Gregory Dahl, Olivier LaQuerre, Phillip Addis and Aaron Agulay. This roster is one more reason why we love our neighbors to the north. Covey will be performing Belcore  in the upcoming Merola performance of Donizetti's "L’Elisir d’Amore."

Thomas Florio is a Virginia native who is another graduate of the prestigious opera training program at Indiana University, which also produced Barihunks favorite Randal Turner, as well as Christopher Schaldenbrand and Kyle Ketelsen. Florio will perform Dulcamara  in Merola's "L’Elisir d’Amore."

[Thomas Florio & Dan Kempson]

Fans in San Francisco can see all of the talented young Merola students in a series of upcoming concerts and operas. On Friday, July 16th, at 7:30 p.m. there will be a concert at the Herbst Theater, with tickets available by calling the box office at (415) 864-3330. The concert will be repeated for free on Sunday, July 25th, at 2:00 p.m. at the Yerba Buena Gardens. The concert will include excerpts from Handel's Rodelinda, Massenet's Werther, Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Smetena's The Bartered Bride and Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor.

The top photo shows Ryan Kuster in a recent master class singing "Here me, o Lord!" from Carlyle Floyd's Susannah. and Benjamin Covey singing "Hai gia vinta la cause" from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.

Other upcoming performances include L'Elisir d'Amore on August 6, 7 and 8 and the Merola Grand Finale on August 21st.

We also want to give a special shout out to Sidney Outlaw, who will be alternating the role of Dulcamara. Our insiders at Merola tell us that he is one of the most talented comic actors to come through the program in years.

What every Barihunks fan wants to find under his or her tree

[Photo from avaoperablog.typepad.com/avaoperablog]

How would you like to look under your tree and find Ben Wager and Ryan Kuster? These guys are two of the hottest young barihunks and immensely talented singers.

Merry Christmas!

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