Philippe Sly and Luca Pisaroni on the big screen (the really, really big screen)

Luca Pisaroni signing baseballs in San Francisco

On July 3rd, the San Francisco Opera is continuing its annual tradition to simulcast opera to AT&T Park, home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants. The production is headlines by two barihunks, Philippe Sly as Figaro and Luca Pisaroni as Count Almaviva. Sly makes his role debut in this production and Pisaroni returns to reprise his successful performances from 2010.

This is the San Francisco Opera’s 13th simulcast and it will be  transmitted live from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House to AT&T Park’s high-definition scoreboard. The performance will begin at 7:30 PM and it is recommended that people register for tickets online.

Baseball, Opera and Baritones in Ball Gowns

Vanessa Bousay aka Erik Chalfant

San Francisco's local classical music station KDFC held a contest called the "Star Spangled Sing-Off" with the winner performing the national anthem at the live simulcast of the San Francisco Opera's La Traviata at AT&T Park,  home of baseball's San Francisco Giants. Over 80,000 listeners voted for the 74 contestants and the winner was Vanessa Bousay, a character created by classically-trained baritone Erik Chalfant.

Phyllis Curtin

Chalfant, who studied with the legendary operatic soprano Phyllis Curtin, created the character of Vanessa Bousay as a tribute to the woman he dubs his "teacher, mentor and friend." He holds the Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Boston University, School For The Arts. He is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, and the Britten-Pears School For Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh, England.

In San Francisco, Vanessa Bousay has appeared at Yoshi's, Martuni's Piano Lounge and a variety of fundraising galas. Her beloved charity is the Tenderloin Tessie Holiday Dinners, benefitting the citizens of The Tenderloin. Chalfant refers to his character as "a talented songstress ... created by (a) proud San Franciscan."

The San Francisco Opera simulcast of Verdi's La Traviata from AT&T Park will be on Saturday, July 5, 2014 at 8:00 PM. You can sign up for tickets at www.sfopera.com/simulcast, or just show up at the game...um, opera. The cast of the opera also includes barihunk Hadleigh Adams as the Marquis d'Obigny. Performances at the War Memorial Opera House run through July 13 and tickets are available online.

Tom Corbeil: Another Merola Hottie

[Top three photos of Tom Corbeil courtesy of Gotham Opera, with soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart; bottom photo courtesy of SF Opera]

The most common email that I get is someone pitching a barihunk. Nine out of ten times, it's a non-starter and usually someone who belongs on BariChunks, not BariHunks.

So imagine my joy in finding Tom Corbeil in my inbox. It didn't take long for me to realize that I'd already seen him as part of San Francisco Opera's young artist program, Merola. With apologies to La Cieca and her definition of a barihunk that appears at the bottom of this blog, the Merola program seems to be pumping out more barihunks than anyone and they can actually sing! Other Merolinis on this site include fan favorite Daniel Okulitch, Lee Poulis, Ben Wager, Eugene Brancoveanu and emerging superstar John Relyea.

Tom Corbeil was not only a standout at Merola, but he has also won awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council and Musical Merit Foundation. He also studied with the great Virginia Zeani.

His current gig is with the Gotham Chamber Opera in Joseph Haydn’s "L’isola disabitata (Desert Island)." Perhaps the title explains the lusciously revealing outfit (it can't always be Pearl Fishers). The performance is staged by Mark Morris and will run from February 18-28 at John Jay College in New York City. For more information, visit www.gothamchamberopera.org.

This site can be contacted at barihunks@gmail.com

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