A Birthday Tribute to Composer Clint Borzoni

Composer Clint Borzoni

There are a number of composers who have had an amazing gift for writing for the baritone voice. In an earlier era, Verdi, Wagner, Poulenc and Carl Loewe all wrote timeless music for baritones. In contemporary times, Jake Heggie and Clint Borzoni have kept the tradition alive, with Heggie writing baritone leads for almost every opera.

Randal Turner sings Clint Borzoni's "That Shadow, My Likeness":

Borzoni has written over seventy pieces, including two full-length operas, two one-act operas, a piano concerto, percussion quartet, work for orchestra, two string quartets, several works for chamber orchestra and over forty art songs.

Much of his vocal writing prominently features baritones, including the two lead roles in his recent opera When Adonis Calls, a leading bass role and baritone role in Antinous and Hadrian, two recent works for String Quartet and Baritone (Stufen and Margere Kost) written for Marco Vassalli, a set of Walt Whitman songs for baritone, the song cycle Awake the Dawn written for baritone Seth Kershisnik, and the song cycle Live Oak Growing written for baritones Tim Hill and Randal Turner.

Marco Vassalli sings Clint Borzoni's "Stufen":

His opera Antinous and Hadrian tells the story of the second century Roman emperor Hadrian and his love for the Greek youth Antinous. It examines the mystery behind the tragic death of the young Antinous. Upon his death, the distraught Emperor declared his beloved a god. Drawing on both historical sources and dramatic imagination the work has been written in the grand opera tradition.

 Wes Mason sings "Two Nooses" from "When Adonis Calls":

Borzoni recently completed his fourth opera, When Adonis Calls, based on the poetry of Gavin Dillard and arranged by John de los Santos. The opera was presented at Fort Worth Opera’s 2015 Frontiers Showcase.

He fifth opera, The Copper Queen, also written with librettist John de los Santos, won Arizona Opera’s new opera competition, Arizona SPARK.

Clint Borzoni's erotic "When Adonis Calls" to get NY workshop premiere

Grant Youngblood and Michael Weyandt

If you live in New York and missed the new opera workshop at Frontiers at the Fort Worth Opera, you're in luck. There will be a workshop reading of the sensational new work by composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John De Los Santos presented by operamission on Thursday, May 21 at 8 PM in the rehearsal hall at OPERA America's National Opera Center (330 Seventh Avenue at 29th Street) in New York.

The Poet will be sung by Grant Youngblood and The Muse by Michael Weyandt. The performance will feature string quartet and percussion and be conducted by Jennifer Peterson. The opera is based on the homoerotic poetry of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard.

You can watch the clips from Frontiers, which feature Tyson Deaton conducting with piano accompaniment by Stephen Carey. Wes Mason sang The Poet and Matt Moeller sang The Muse.

John De Los Santos and Clint Borzoni discuss "When Adonis Calls"

The performance will also include the world premiere of Clint Borzoni's song cycle "Earth, my likeness" featuring countertenor Daniel Bubeck. The piece is based on the poems of Constantine Cavafy, May Swenson and Walt Whitman.

Tickets are $20 in advance and are available online.

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

Matt Moeller and Wes Mason sing "A Garden of Teeth"

Matt Moeller & Wes Mason

After the instant popularity of our post featuring Wes Mason singing "Two Nooses" from Clint Borzoni's "When Adonis Calls," we thought we'd share the duet, as well. The performances are from Frontiers, the new opera workshop at the Fort Worth Opera. The selection features Matt Moeller as the Muse and Wes Mason as the Poet, and is conducted by Tyson Deaton with accompaniment by Stephen Carey at the piano.

The libretto was constructed by John de los Santos from the poems of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard. It tells the story of an accomplished author, called the Poet, who is struggling with writer’s block and isolation. He is contacted by an eager young fan, known as the Muse, who is interested in both an artistic and personal correspondence. At first reluctant, the Poet joins the Muse in a sensual game of literary discovery that leads the two into unexpected realms of unbridled eroticism. Through their poems, they unleash one another’s pasts, demons, and secret longings. Their harmonized writings culminate with a final meeting in the flesh that transcends beyond what either of them ever believed was possible when they first put pen to paper.

Gregory Gerbrandt latest barihunk singing Stanley Kowalski

Gregory Gerbrandt: Photos by Pablo Cozzaglio and Andrea Johnston Photography ©

The lastest barihunk to take on Stanley Kowalski in André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire is Gregory Gerbrandt, who will sing the role with Opera Santa Barbara on April 24 and 26. In recent months we've seen Wes Mason take on the iconic role at Kentucky Opera, Ryan McKinny at the Los Angeles Opera and Dan Kempson with Townsend Opera and Fresno Grand Opera. 

Gerbrandt will have some help in creating an authentic New Orleans flavor, as his Mitch is New Orleans native Casey Candebat. Joining them in the cast are Beverly O'Regan Thiele as Blanche DuBois and Micaela Oeste as Stella. 

Dan Kempson, Wes Mason and Ryan McKinny as Stanley Kowalski

The production will utilize the revised score prepared by Peter Grunberg for the Merola Opera, which reduces the score from a 70-piece orchestra to a 40-piece ensemble. Jose Maria Condemi, who directed the opera at Merola and Kentucky Opera, will direct the work again in Santa Barbara. Candebat also sang the role of Mitch at the Merola Opera. 

The production next travels to the Tulsa Opera where barihunk Jordan Shanahan will take on the role on March 4 and 6, 2016.

Ryan McKinny's sexy Flying Dutchman rehearsal photos

 

Ryan McKinny in Flying Dutchman rehearsals at Hawaii Opera Theater (far left and right) and Glimmerglass (center)

Back in June 2013 we ran some sexy photos from photographer Karli Cadel of barihunk Ryan McKinny in rehearsals for Wagner's The Flying Dutchman at the Glimmerglass Festival. It became one of our most popular posts and still gets an amazing amount of traffic almost two years later.

That amazing production from Glimmerglass has been transported 4,900 miles to the Hawaii Opera Theater with three of the main cast members repeating their roles, including Jay Hunter Morris as Erik, Melody Moore as Senta and McKinny as the Dutchman. Hawaii even added barihunk Paul Whelan as Daland.

Forunately, there are more rehearsal pictures of Ryan McKinny, so we had to share them with you.

Ryan McKinny in Flying Dutchman rehearsals at Hawaii Opera Theater

Performances run from February 13-17 and tickets are available online. If you were planning on a vacation to Hawaii, this would be the time to go.

Hawaii Opera Theater, or HOT as they're affectionately known, has more barihunks on their season lineup. Wes Mason will sing the role of Jonathan Reed in Jonathan Dove's Siren Song, running from March 20-28. Jesse Blumberg then joins the roster for a run as Anthony Hope in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd from April 24-28.

We're left muttering HOT is HOT!!!

When Adonis Calls chosen for Frontiers; Features two baritone leads

Promo for When Adonis Calls

It's not often that we can feature an opera that has an all-barihunk cast, but that seems to the case with When Adonis Calls. Written by composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos, the opera chronicles the tumultuous correspondence between an established writer and an eager young admirer. The piece is scored for two baritones, string quartet, percussionist, and two dancers.

The opera was recently selected for Fort Worth Opera's third annual Frontiers workshop, which features eight works in development by emerging composers and librettists. Borzoni is no stranger to writing for low voices. In 2010, he was commissioned to write a song cycle for bass-baritone Tim Hill and several songs for bass-barihunk Randal Turner. Turner’s songs appear on his CD, “Living American Composers” and were performed at the 9/11 tribute at the U.S. embassy in Sweden. He also recently completed a two act opera titled “Antinous and Hadrian,” which features a baritone lead.

John de los Santos, the librettist, is actually one of opera's hottest and most talented young directors and choreographers. In 2011, we named him the "Best Director" in our "Best of the Year" feature for his brilliant work on Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado. He subsequently has been featured on the site for his work directing Piazzolla's tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires in Lexington with barihunk Luis Alejandro Orozco and Ricky Ian Gordon's Green Sneakers in both San Francisco and San Antonio with barihunk Jesse Blumberg, and Bizet's Pearl Fishers in Fort Worth with barihunk Lee Poulis.

John de los Santos (left) and Jesse Blumberg in Green Sneakers (right)

De los Santos constructed his innovative libretto from the poems of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, who has written texts for Peter Allen, Chanticleer, Sam Harris, Jake Heggie, Glen Roven, Ralph Edwards and Disney Studios. His classical art songs ("Of Gods and Cats") were featured at Lincoln Center by mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore. His infamous Hollywood tell-all book, IN THE FLESH: Undressing for Success, chronicles his life as a gay porn star, high-paid male escort, his exciting long-term-relationship, and eventually his search for self through poetry and Asian religion.

When Adonis Calls will be featured at Frontiers during the Fort Worth Opera Festival on May 7 & 8, 2015. Post-performance discussions and open rehearsals will be part of the showcase. Frontiers began during the 2012- 2013 season as an opportunity for composers and librettists to showcase up to twenty minutes of their new works in front of artistic directors of opera companies, artist managers, classical music publishers, funding organizations, and conductors.

The singers have not been selected for the work, but we'll be sure that our readers are the first to know. We'll also be in attendance for the workshop in Fort Worth. as well as their performances of Verdi's La traviata, David T. Little's Dog Days and Thomas' Hamlet, featuring barihunk Wes Mason in his first performance of the title role. Visit their website for tickets and additional information.

If you want to enjoy 19 of the hottest barihunks in opera, then order your 2015 Barihunks Calendar by clicking on the LULU button below. You'll be glad that you did!!!

 

Chris Herbert & Wes Mason to star in AIDS Quilt Songbook

Barihunks Chris Herbert and Wes Mason, will be part of "AIDS Quilt Songbook @22, " a concert and fundraiser for Bailey House, a not for profit organization providing housing and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. The concert is on November 14th at the Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy in New York City.

The performance marks the 22nd anniversary concert of the AIDS Quilt Songbook, which premiered in 1992 in Alice Tully Hall by baritones William Parker, Kurt Ollmann, William Sharp, and Sanford Sylvan. Parker died a year later of AIDS. Sharp teaches at Peabody and Ollman at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee. Tickets are $10 and free with a student ID.

The concert is co-curated by Thomas Bagwell, the artistic director of the 20th AIDS Quilt Songbook at Cooper Union and assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, and Gordon Beeferman, composer of "The Enchanted Organ: A Porn Opera". The duo also co-curated an AIDS Quilt Songbook in Philadelphia last year at the William Way Community Center. They'll be joined by Michael Djupstrom and John Musto at the piano.

Kurt Ollman sings Ricky Ian Gordon's "I Never Knew":

Other singers included sopranos Anne-Carolyn Bird, Amy Burton, Lorinda Lisitza, Gilda Lyons, and Elizabeth Weigle; mezzo-sopranos Abby Fischer and Heather Johnson; contralto Nicole Mitchell; and, hunkentenor Michael Slattery

The concert will include works by Gordon Beeferman, Michael Djupstrom, Rachel Peters, and Kamala Sankaram, Andrea Clearfield, Herschel Garfein, Fred Hersch, Gilda Lyons, John Musto, Jack Perla, and Donald Wheelock. The program will feature songs all directly related to HIV/AIDS and will cover such topics as the realities of being HIV+ in the dating world, prevention education for sex workers, the joys of the condom, and a biting satire on the tearing of St. Vincent's hospital, the epicenter of the epidemic in New York.

 Don't forget to buy your 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar today. Wes Mason and Chris Herbert appeared in previous years and this year is filled with 19 of the hunkiest men in opera. 

Wes Mason takes on Bernie Madoff

Barihunk Wes Mason, who just finished a successful run as Curly in Oklahoma! at the Utah Festival Opera, will be turning his attention to another American tale. On September 14th, he'll be singing the role of Bernie Madoff in a workshop of composer Luna Pearl Woolf's new opera The Pillar.

The opera is based on Diana Henriques’ bestselling book The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust. The opera tells the tale Ruth Madoff, who has dedicated her whole life to her husband, a pillar of the community. When Bernie Madoff falls into disgrace, she must finally confront choices—and consequences—of truly operatic proportions. The story digs beneath the surface of this contemporary scandal to uncover a timeless meditation on loyalty, corruption, and the nature of love.

Mason will be part of a workshop at the Opera America Center Recital Hall at 330 Seventh Avenue in New York where the audience can hear selection of the opera and offer feedback.

You can RSVP and reserve your seat by clicking here or by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/ThePillarRSVP

 Wes Mason rehearsing Curly in Oklahoma!

We asked Wes about working on The Pillar and this is what he told us:

"It has been such a joy of a process rehearsing and discovering with Luna, David and everyone. When you are in a room with a top notch team of artisans that are able to share their insight and take direction from the creators of a work, you just light up with inspiration. The music, the words, and the interpretation of the other singers has moved me to tears. This is a fascinating work so far. Workshops are a real gift."

Upcoming performances include Ford in Nicoai's The Merry Wives of Windsor at Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Stanley in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire at Kentucky Opera, Jonathan Reed in Dove's Siren Song with Hawaii Opera and the title role of Hamlet in the Ambroise Thomas classic at the Fort Worth Opera Festival.

"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.

Backstage photo from "No Tenors Allowed" featuring "Three Barihunks"

Gordon Bintner, Elliot Madore, Bill Eddins (Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Music Director), Philippe Sly

Regular readers may remember our post about the three Canadian barihunks performing the "No Tenors Allowed" concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The trio joined 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.

We were fortunate enough to get a backstage photo of the group after Monday night's concert, which from all accounts, was a huge success. 

Philippe Sly can next be heard on April 2nd with soprano Hélène Guilmette performing excerpts from the Fauré Requiem, Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec under the baton of Jean-Marie Zeitouni. Tickets are available online.

Elliot Madore returns to Pennsylvania where he will again be part of a barihunk trio in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia. He'll take on the title role, as Wes Mason sings Masetto and Nicholas Masters sings the Commendatore. Performance run from April 25-May 4. Tickets are available online.

Wes Mason as leather-clad Achilla at Opera Roanoke

Wes Mason as Achilla with Pompeo's head

Virginia native Wes Mason is returning to his home state to perform the scheming Egyptian general Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare with Opera Roanoke. We heard that he was clad in a sexy leather outfit, so we asked for some pictures from the dress rehearsals, which we're thrilled to share with our readers.

The cast also includes Teresa Buccholz as Giulio Cesare, Amy Cofield Williamson as Cleopatra, Eric Brenner as Tolomeo, Toby Newman as Sesto and Carla Dirlikov as Cornelia.

Performances are on March 21 and 23 at the Jefferson Center's Shaftman Performance Hall in Roanoke. Tickets are available by calling (540) 345-2550.

You can also watch an interview with Wes Mason from WDBJ-TV Channel 7 where he discussed the opera and the role of Achilla.

In addition to Achilla, Wes Mason's current season is filled with role debuts this year, including Escamillo in La tragédie de Carmen with Syracuse Opera, Zurga in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles with both Baltimore Concert Opera and Delaware Opera, Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia, and both Curly in Oklahoma! and the Bishop in Les Misérables with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre.

Shirtless photos of Wes Mason in The Tragedy of Carmen

Ola Rafalo and Wes Mason at Syracuse Opera (Photo: Doug Wonders)

After receiving these shirtless photos of Wes Mason as Escamillo in Peter Brook’s adaptation of “The Tragedy of Carmen” at the Syracues Opera, we thought it was worthwhile to follow up with another post.

Peter Brook abridged Bizet’s famous opera to a theater piece that runs a little over 80 minutes and focuses the action entirely on the scenes involving the four principals: Carmen, Don José, Micaëla and Escamillo. He eliminated the chorus and had the French composer Marius Constant reduce Bizet’s symphony orchestra to a chamber orchestra of 15 players. For the spoken dialogues in his adaptation, Brook drew more closely upon Prosper Merimée’s original story than Bizet’s libretto.

There are performances remaining on October 13, 15 and 18 at the Carrier Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center in downtown Syracuse, New York.

Wes Mason as Escamillo (Photo: Doug Wonders)

If you can't catch Wes Mason in Syracuse, you'll have two chances to catch him in one of the sexiest roles in opera, Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers). First up will be at the Baltimore Concert Opera from February 28 to March 2, and then from March 7-9 at the Delaware Opera.

You can enjoy Wes Mason in your own copy of the 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. He's joined in December by Christopher Temporelli and Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek in our special three singer spread to warm up your holiday season. Click HERE to order your own copy or as a special gift to the opera lover in your life (or hunky guy lover). 

Wes Mason inspires a barihunk headline

We've been huge fans of Wes Mason since his breakout performance in Jorge Martín's Before Night Falls in 2010 at the Fort Worth Opera Festival.

He's currently appearing with the Syracuse Opera in their production of the Peter Brooks/Georges Bizet arrangement of The Tragedy of Carmen portraying Escamillo. We've known Wes Mason for three years now and we've learned that he can dominate both a room and a performance. So it was no surprise to us that both the local paper and the artistic director of the Syracuse Opera focused on this rising star. The headline screamed, "Bullfighters, Barihunks, and Bravado."

“There’s this thing in the opera world,” artistic director Douglas Kinney Frost told the Syracuse New Times. “Now, it’s more like a movement, but there’s this blog where they choose ‘barihunks.’ The idea is that he’s a sexy hunk of a guy and he’s a baritone. I’m very proud to have Escamillo as a barihunk. [Wes Mason] loves it. He’s very flattered. And he’s one of the originals.”

Performances run from October 11-20 and tickets are available online. 

If you can't catch Wes Mason in Syracuse, you'll have two chances to catch him in one of the sexiest roles in opera, Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers). First up will be at the Baltimore Concert Opera from February 28 to March 2, and then from March 7-9 at the Delaware Opera.

(L-R) Christopher Temporelli, Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek and Wes Mason.

You can enjoy Wes Mason in your own copy of the 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. He's joined in December by Christopher Temporelli and Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek in our special three singer spread to warm up your holiday season. Click HERE to order your own copy or as a special gift to the opera lover in your life (or hunky guy lover).

Wes Mason to perform recital and conduct master class

 

When a concert promotes its singer as a "barihunk," how can we not post about it? We caught the Tidewater Opera Initiative's post on Facebook about Wes Mason's upcoming recital that refers to Mason as their "handsome barihunk." Make sure to visit their Facebook page and like them.

Wes Mason has been a regular on this site and is one of our favorite singers in the business. He's appeared in our charity calendar, which benefits young artists, and has agreed to appear again this year. Make sure to check out our recent post about his new promotional photos and his celebrity doppelgänger. 

Mason will be appearing with the Tidewater Opera Initiative on two consecutive days. On Saturday, July 20th at 7 PM, he will perform a recital featuring some of opera and Broadway's greatest hits. On Sunday, July 21st from 2-5 PM, he will conduct a special master class for members of the Governor's School for the Arts vocal program and Tidewaters's opera chorus.

Wes Mason and fellow barihunks Michael Mayes, John Boehr and Anthony Reed

Both events will take place at Christ and St. Luke's church in downtown Norfolk, and all proceeds benefit Tidewater Opera Initiative's upcoming production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. Tickets for Saturday's concert are $15 and can be purchased at the door. Sunday's master class is open to the public for a suggested donation of $5 at the door.

Tidewater is a regional opera organization based in the Tidewater area of Virginia dedicated to the development of local professional opera singers. Wes Mason hails from Norfolk, Virginia and graduated from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. His big career break when he starred in the world premiere of Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls with Fort Worth Opera.

We've also witnessed his amazing karaoke skills and ability to impersonate famous actors and singers. 

Barihunks Lunch in Fort Worth

Wes Mason, Michael Mayes and Jonathan Boehr

It's no secret that we're huge fans of the Fort Worth Opera Festival, which has become one of the best summer opera festivals in America, if not the world. Under the inspired leadership of general director Darren Woods, the once fledgling company has become a required stop for serious opera lovers. The company is known for its combination of old standards and works by new composers. The new works often become the hit of the festival, as is the case this year with Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied starring Michael Mayes. Woods is also notorious for finding gifted young opera singers before other companies "discover" them, so it's a wonderful opportunity to catch the next wave of great singers.

Wes Mason, Michael Mayes and Jonathan Boehr goof off; Anthony Reed flexes his guns

 

Aaron Sorensen, Michael Adams, Steven Eddy, Wes Mason, Michael Mayes, Jonathan Boehr & Anthony Reed

As is often the case when one of the Barihunks bloggers flies into town, a lunch with the hottest low voices tends to break out. Singers are all given a Barihunk tee-shirt and other gifts, which have ranged from coffee mugs to iPods. This year singers were given gift cards of varying value depending on their ability to answer Barihunks trivia questions. Jonathan Boehr was the winner of the $100 gift card and three CDs featuring baritones. Wes Mason was too busy having fun and missed answering a question where he was part of the answer. Wes also entertained the group with some of his amazing impersonations, which included Christopher Walken, Marlon Brando, Thomas Hampson and tenor Jonathan Blalock [see photo at bottom of the feed].

Jonathan Boehr, winner of 1st prize in the Barihunk Trivia Contest

Michael Adams sporting Michael Mayes' glasses and look

All of the singers shown above are appearing with the Fort Worth Opera Festival this year. Wes Mason is Marcello in La bohème, Michael Mayes is Capt. Jim Thompson in Glory Denied, Steven Eddy is Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Michael Adams is the Custom House Sergeant in La bohème and the Corporal in Daughter of the Regiment, Aaron Sorensen is Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème, Jonathan Boehr is Schaunard in La bohème, and Anthony Reed is Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos. Tickets and additional information are available online.

Wes Mason channeling tenor Jonathan Blalock's famous Southern smile

Wes Mason launches new website; Ben Affleck Doppelgänger?

Wes Mason (photo by Michael Yeshion)

People often ask us, "Where did you get that photo?" The answer is often on a singer's website, where we've learned one can find a treasure trove of sexy photos. It seems singers (or their website designers) are more inclined to post hot photos that their managers (oh, the boring headshot!).

American barihunk Wes Mason is no exception and he's launching his new website today with some male model-esque photos by New York City-based photographer and actor Michael Yeshion. In another example of the changing face of opera, Mason's new photos look like they were pulled from GQ or Vanity Fair rather than an opera program. Some of our recent posts have talked about fitness and image in opera and how it needs to catch up with other art forms in marketing and appealing to a broader audience. Mason's new website is a perfect example of the marketing aspect of that discussion.

Separated at Birth: Ben Affleck and Wes Mason

We've heard singers like Daniel Okulitch and Nathan Gunn talk eloquently about how opera needs to catch up with movies and television in order to survive. When we looked at Wes Mason's new photos it struck us that he's following that script by channeling a pretty hot Ben Affleck look with the baritone beard and seductive "stare at the camera and look serious" pose. You can visit Mason's new website at www.wesmasonstage.com.

Mason is currently at the Fort Worth Opera as Marcello in La bohème following his performances in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. He'll be making his mainstage debut next year as Masetto in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia. Meanwhile, he's getting rave reviews again in Fort Worth, where he became a household name in opera for his stunning portrayal as Cuban dissident and poet, Reinaldo Arenas, in the world premiere of Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls in 2010.

The esteemed critic Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News dubbed Mason the "vocal standout" in a La bohème cast filled with vocal talent. Performances run through May 3 and tickets and additional cast information is available online. We highly suggest making a trip to Fort Worth if you can get away, as Michael Mayes' riveting performance in Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied will be running through May 11. We'll be there!

Previous engagements for Mason have included Masetto in Don Giovanni with Opera Naples, Moralès in Carmen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Le Dancaire in Carmen with Michigan Opera Theater, Valentine in Faust and both Schaunard and Marcello in La bohème with the Crested Butte Music Festival.

Mason was a finalist in the 2012 Opera Index Competition, Encouragement Award winner in the 2012 Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, Second Place Regional Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2009 and a three-time nominee for the Sarah Tucker Study Grant in 2012, 2010 and 2009.

Michael Mayes stopping traffic in Fort Worth

Michael Mayes makes waiting for the bus tolerable

We say it every year, if you don't have the Fort Worth Opera Festival on your travel itinerary then you missing one of the best festivals in the United States. Although the festivals at Glimmerglass, Spoleto and Santa Fe might be better known, the quality and innovation at Fort Worth Opera is unsurpassed. General Director Darren Woods has created one of the most entertaining festivals in the United States with a mixture of operatic standards and fascinating contemporary works. 

This year's standard fare includes Puccini's La boheme, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment and Puccini's La boheme featuring another of our favorite young barihunks Wes Mason. The contemporary work this year is Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied and it's all the buzz in Fort Worth due a bunch of bus benches featuring barihunk Michael Mayes that are literally stopping traffic.

Mayes will portray Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s longest-held prisoner of war. The opera by Tom Cipullo looks back on Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title role. Fort Worth Opera often challenges their ticket holders with new works and the productions are often the audience favorites. Last year they featured Mark Adamo's comedy  Lysistrata that had audiences rolling in the aisles and the previous year they offered Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox that became the hottest ticket in town.

If this year's fare is half as great as their ad campaign, they have another hit on their hands. Michael Mayes was one of the stars of Lysistrata and he showed off his comic skills to great effect. But readers of this site will know that his dramatic skills recently prompted composer Jake Heggie to say that Mayes was the definitive Joseph De Rocher in his opera Dead Man Walking.

Tickets and additional information about the Fort Worth Opera Festival are available on their website.

Photos from Dead Man Walking: Michael Mayes in Glory Denied

Philip Kalmanovitch and Etienne Dupuis are all smiles as opening night arrives

On February 24h, we mentioned the upcoming performance of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking in Montreal, Boston and Eugene, Oregon. We have rehearsal photos from two of those productions, as the much-anticipated opening night in Montreal is upon us.

Etienne Dupuis

Etienne Dupuis is a great example of how much opera is catching up to TV and movies with realistic casting. He hired two personal trainers to get in shape for the role of Joseph De Rocher, which has become a dream role for barihunks. Some of the hottest barihunks in the world have taken on the role of Joseph de Rocher including Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Mel Ulrich, Daniel Okulitch, Jordan Shanahan, Marcus DeLoach and Philip Cutlip. The performance in Montreal also includes Philip Kalmanovitch as a police officer. Many of you will remember him from last year's calendar and probably wouldn't mind being frisked by him.

Performances at Opera de Montreal run from tonight through March16th and tickets are available online.

Etienne Dupuis as Joseph De Rocher in Montreal

Dead Man Walking will open on opposite coasts on March 15th at the Eugene Opera and the Boston Opera Collaborative. If you ever get the chance to see the stage animal Michael Mayes perform this role, don't miss it. His workout photo from Tulsa, as he was preparing for the role a year ago, have rocketed into our ten most visited posts of all-time.

The opera will be performed at the Eugene Opera on March 15 and 17 and tickets are available online.

If you don't have time to schedule a trip to Oregon, there are still six weeks left to get to the Fort Worth Opera Festival where Mayes will portray Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s longest-held prisoner of war. The opera by Tom Cipullo looks back on Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title role. If you've not been to this festival, we highly recommend adding it to your agenda, as it's one of the most innovative and entertaining festivals in America. Other operas this year include Puccini's La boheme, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment. Wes Mason, another of our favorite young barihunks, will be appearing as Marcello in La boheme.

Tickets and additional information about the Fort Worth Opera Festival are available on their website.

Michael Mayes getting in character in Eugene

Performances of Dead Man Walking with the Boston Opera Collaborative will run daily from March 15-18 with tickets available online.

Barihunk "Barber" at AVA

Wes Mason and Steven LaBrie

The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia keeps churning out some of the greatest singers performing on major stages today, including sopranos Ailyn Pérez and Angela Meade, tenors Michael Fabiano and Stephen Costello, mezzo Joyce DiDonato and barihunks Keith Miller and Daniel Mobbs.

Once again they have another class with its fair share of great singers, including two who we've regularly featured on Barihunks. Wes Mason and Steven LaBrie, will be joining classmate Christian Bowers in AVA's triple-cast performances of Rossini's Barber of Seville.

Performances will run from November 3-17 in Philadelphia, Warrington and Haverford, Pennsylvania. For tickets and additional cast information call 215.735.1685 or visit the AVA website.

We first discovered Wes Mason in 2010 while he was preparing the role of Reinaldo Arenas in Jorge Martín's Before Night Falls at the Fort Worth Opera Festival. His remarkable performance prompted critic Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News to remark: "Onstage and singing much of the time, Wes Mason portrays Arenas with movie-star looks, a handsome baritone and strikingly clear diction."

He is returning to Fort Worth this year to perform Marcello in Puccini's La boheme from April 20-May 11. We always include the Fort Worth Opera Festival on our travel agenda and this year will be no exception. Visit their website and order your tickets now.

Steven LaBrie sings "Non siate ritrosi" from Mozart's Così fan tutte:

We were tipped off about Steven LaBrie by one of his fans in Philadelphia. We've watched his career progress with his Second Prize win at the 2012 Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition and his performance of Xavier Montsalvatge's operatic telling of the children's classic El gato con botas (Puss in Boots) at Gotham Chamber Opera.