Ryan McKinny in world premiere of Rilke Songs with SF Symphony

Ryan McKinny

Bass-barihunk Ryan McKinny will be featured along with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas' composition, "Rilke Songs," a musical setting of lyric poems by German modernist poet Rainer Maria Rilke. A number of composers have set Rilke texts to music, including Alban Berg, Paul Hindemith, Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg and Peter Lieberson.

Tilson Thomas has been an active composer throughout his career  In addition to Rilke, he has set the texts of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Anne Frank. Other compositions include Street Song for brass instruments and Agnegram, an overture for orchestra. This will mark Michael Tilson Thomas' 25th and final season as the San Francisco Symphony’s music.

Performances run from January 9-12 and tickets and additional concert information is available online.

McKinny returns to the operatic stage on February 29 for eight performances as the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Washington National Opera. He'll be joined by fellow barihunk Kyle Ketelsen as Leporello, along with Vannessa Vasquez as Donna Anna, Keri Alkema as Donna Elvira and Alek Shrader as Don Ottavio. In April, he takes on Jokanaan in Richard Strauss' Salome at the Houston Grand Opera with Lise Lindstrom in the title role and  Susan Graham as Herodias. 

Barihunk duo join SF Symphony for semi-staged Ravel opera

Kelly Markgraf and Michael Todd Simpson

Barihunks Michael Todd Simpson and Kelly Markgraf will join the San Francisco Symphony in a semi-staged performance of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells) on June 27 and 29–30 at Davies Symphony Hall. They'll be joined by an all-star cast including Isabel Leonard, Anna Christy, Nikki Einfeld, Marnie Breckenridge, Ginger Costa Jackson, Jennifer Johnson-Cano and Ben Jones under the baton of Martyn Brabbins.

The semi-staged production has previously been seen at the Opéra de Lyon in 2012 and 2016, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in 2013. Tickets for the San Francisco performances are available online.

In L’enfant et les sortilèges, Ravel captures the fanciful world of a young child. Set in a country house in Normandy, the story opens with a boy being scolded by his mother and left alone in his room. Rebellious and fractious, the boy causes mischief—ripping the wallpaper and tearing pages from his schoolbook, sweeping the teapot off the table, swinging from the pendulum of the grandfather clock, and even injuring his pet squirrel. The objects of his tantrum come to life and turn against him, admonishing him for his misdeeds. More accusations and frightful encounters follow when the boy runs out to the garden, until he finally learns his lesson—showing kindness to the injured squirrel—and the magic of the garden turns to moonlight enchantment.

Ryan McKinny featured in world premiere of Rilke Songs

Ryan McKinny (Photo from artist website)

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas will mark his 25th and final season as the San Francisco Symphony’s music director with a schedule that includes newly commissioned works by John Adams, Julia Wolfe, Adam Schoenberg and the composer/conductor himself.

Bass-barihunk Ryan McKinny will be featured along with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in the world premiere of Tilson Thomas' composition, "Rilke Songs," a musical setting of lyric poems by German modernist poet Rainer Maria Rilke. A number of composers have set Rilke texts to music, including Alban Berg, Paul Hindemith, Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg and Peter Lieberson.

Tilson Thomas has been an active composer throughout his career  He has set the texts of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Anne Frank. Other compositions include Street Song for brass instruments and Agnegram, an overture for orchestra.

Performances run from January 9-12 and tickets and additional concert information is available online.

Ryan McKinny can currently be seen in the European premiere of John Adams' "Girls of the Golden West" at the Dutch National Opera. 

Edward Nelson featured in San Francisco Symphony's Oktoberfest

Barihunk Edward Nelson looking sexy onstage and offstage

Barihunk Edward Nelson is heading up an all-star cast of singers for an Oktoberfest celebration at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall on October 3rd. The American singer will be joined by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and opera stars soprano Julie Adams, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack and tenor David Blalock.

Bavarian-born associate conductor Christian Reif will lead the orchestra in its first ever Oktoberfest, complete with German food and beer, as well as a polka dance party. Nelson will perform “Fin ch'han dal vino” from Mozart's Don Giovanni  and Ambroise Thomas' "Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse" from Hamlet, both of which have themes around drinking wine. 

Other selections on the program include  Lumbye's Champagne Gallop, Johann Strauss, Jr.'s  Champagne Polka, Romberg's “Drinking Song" and "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from Verdi's La traviata

Tickets and additional information is available online.

Zachary Gordin makes SF Symphony debut with Soundbox

Zachary Gordin: Mr January in the 2015 Barihunk Calendar

Barihunks calendar model Zachary Gordin is making his San Francisco Symphony debut with SoundBox, the orchestra’s new experimental performance venue and late-night live music series taking place backstage at Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday, December 13. The program,  spans over ten centuries of music from around the world, will be led by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. SoundBox is a new initiative aimed at attracting culturally-adventurous listeners to evenings of eclectic musical exploration and discovery, all in a nightclub-like setting.

"I’m thrilled to be one of the guest soloists for the inaugural performance of Soundbox. It’s an exciting new venture, bringing world class musicians from the San Francisco Symphony and Symphony Chorus together in an unconventional performance space, while creating a totally immersive experience for the senses," Gordin told Barihunks. "The acoustical environment will be altered for each piece of music by the wizards at Meyer Sound Laboratories, so the audience will be able to hear each piece in the acoustical environment it was meant for. There will be changing lights and projected art on huge screen panels, as well as an interesting menu of bites and cocktails, in a rehearsal hall that’s been transformed into a swanky night club. I’m most excited that this is my first time singing with Michael Tilson Thomas, and working with SF Symphony. He’s such a generous and collaborative Maestro, and an immensely gifted artist. I’m honored to be part of this project, and have loved watching it take shape."

Zachary Gordin (left) and Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek and Ramon Balderas

At the December 13 opening, Tilson Thomas will take listeners through a “musical tasting menu” that showcases the venue’s sound system which can alter the space’s acoustics to mimic a variety of different environments. Visual components of this opening show include Steina’s 1986 video Voice Windows, featuring the voice of Joan La Barbara. Voice Windows is co-presented at SoundBox by the SF Symphony and SFMOMA. Prior to the show’s start, guests will experience a soundscape installation derived from John Cage’s Branches (music for amplified plants), accompanied by plant-based imagery from video designer Adam Larsen.

The program includes “Stella splendens in monte” from the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat by Anonymous(arranged by Mason Bates), Plainchant and Kyrie from Missa Pange lingua by Josquin des Prez, Te Deum from Play of Daniel by Anonymous, Panda Chant II by Meredith Monk, Music for Pieces of Wood by Steve Reich, Introduction and Allegro by Maurice Ravel, Voice Windows, Integrales by Varèse and Magnificat from Vespro della Beata Vergine by Monteverdi.

The concert is SOLD OUT. Click HERE for information and tickets on upcoming Soundbox events.

You can enjoy Zachary Gordin and 18 other of opera's sexiest men in our 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar by clicking on the LULU button below. Only 3 weeks left to order.

Kelly Markgraf and San Francisco Symphony nominated for GRAMMY

Kelly Markgraf

The 15-time GRAMMY Award–winning San Francisco Symphony has been nominated for yet another award for their recording of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. The recording features barihunk Kelly Markgraf as Bernardo, Cheyenne Jackson as Tony and Alexandra Silber as Maria and was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album.

This is the first-ever complete concert performance of the entire score from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

You can order your 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar today by clicking on the LULU button below. Enjoy 19 of the hottest men in opera all year around.

Hanno Müller-Brachmann's West Coast Debut & Only US Performance in 2014

Hanno Müller-Brachmann in Cosi fan tutte in Berlin

American fans of the amazing gifted German barihunk Hanno Müller-Brachmann will have one chance to see him in 2014, when he makes his West Coast debut with the San Francisco Symphony on May 29 and 30. Müller-Brachmann will be performing Fauré's Requiem under the baton of Charles Dutoit along with soprano Susanna Phillips. Tickets are selling fast and are available online.

Müller-Brachmann's U.S. appearances are an unfortunate rarity. He made his New York  in 2000 debut at Carnegie Hall in Elliott Carter's opera "What next" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim.

Hans Müller-Brachmann performs St. Matthew's Passion:

Upcoming European performances are focused on the Passions of Johann Sebastian Bach, as he takes on St. Mark's Passion with the Knabenkantorei Basel on March 20 and 21, St. Matthew's Passion with the Sinfonieorchester des Schwedischen Rundfunks on March 28 and 29, St. John's Passion with the Vienna Symphony on April 13 in Vienna and 15 in Aix en Provence, and finally returns to the St. Matthew's Passion with the Berlin Konzerthausorchester on April 18 and 19.

R.I.P. - Todd Donovan

Todd Donovan

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of baritone and arts administrator Todd Donovan.

Opera and classical music fans in the San Francisco Bay area will remember him for the many hats that he wore with great distinction. First, as a lyric baritone who performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Philhamonia Baroque Orchestra, Lamplighters Music Theater, Eugene Opera, Nevada Opera and others. He then went on to work in arts administration and development for the San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the Grammy-nominated Cypress String Quartet.

He will be greatly missed. 

You can read his complete obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Keith Phares to Perform "Carmina Burana" in SF

Barihunk Keith Phares will perform Carl Orff's popular Carmina Burana with the San Francisco Symphony. Performance run from November 3-8 and tickets can be purchased on the Symphony website. One of the four performances is already SOLD OUT, so purchase your tickets now.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

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