Celebrating National Red Head Day with our favorite barihunks

Andrew Garland

How else would we celebrate National Redhead Day, but with a post about barihunk Andrew Garland? He'll be performing in Orff's Carmina Burana at Trinity Chapel in Newton, Massachusetts on November 11 and 12. He will be joined by the  University Chorale of Boston College and the Boston College Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John Finney.

Garland also has two performances of Handel's Messiah on the calendar. He'll be performing the piece with the Boston Baroque on December 9 and 10 and then with the Colorado Bach Ensemble on December 17 and 18.

A few fun facts about redheads:

• The highest concentration of redheads is in Scotland (13%) followed by Ireland (10%). Worldwide, only 2% of the population has red hair.
• People with red hair are likely more sensitive to pain.
• Redheads are more likely to be left handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs.
• Bees have been proven to be more attracted to redheads.
• Men with red hair are 54% less likely to develop prostate cancer
• Redheads have less hair than most other people, averaging 90,000 strands of hair compared to the average of 140,000. However, red hair is typically thicker so they it looks just as full.

William Berger, Jonathan Estabrooks, Gregory Gerbrandt & Duncan Rock (clockwise top L)

Here is what some other barihunk redheads are up to:

• William Berger will be singing Marcello in Puccini's La bohéme at Opera de Rouen next season.
• Jonathan Estabrooks will perform Clara & Jonathan/Crossover to Love aboard the Sea Princess Cruise Liner leaving from Brisbane, Australia. 
• Duncan Rock is performing the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Glyndebourne Festival through December 9th (opposite the Leporello of fellow barihunk Brandon Cedel).
• Gregory Gerbrandt opens tonight as Jim Larkens in Puccini's La fanciulla del West at Opera Colorado.

Our 10th Anniversary "Barihunks in Bed" calendar is out and it's our HOTTEST ever. Click on the LULU button to order your copy before the holiday rush.

William Berger's HOT new look

William Berger (photo by Paul Foster-Williams)

There's one thing that we've learned in our five years of existence: Barihunks has a loyal group of ginger lovers. Every time we post a redhead on the site, we seem to get a half-dozen emails touting another "strawberry blond" singer.

A recent email came from a friend and it was about a wonderfully gifted singer who we both had seen many times on stage.  It began, "Have you seen William Berger lately? Not sure what's he's done, but he's looking really H-O-T these days."

We're not sure either, but it looks like he's lost a stone or two and adopted a distinctly stylish new look. Whatever he's done, we agree that he looks as great as he sounds. We've seen other singers go through some amazing transformations recently, most notably the very public evolution of Michael Mayes from Bari-Chunk to Bari-Hunk, which remains one of our most visited and inspirational posts.

William Berger sings "Revenge Timotheus Cries" from Handel's Alexander's Feast)

Berger is an amazing talented baritone who sings with an incredible depth of emotion and colors his phrases beautifully. We still remember his performances with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra where he sang Aeneas opposite the great Susan Graham's Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas under maestro Nicholas McGegan. Even though he has no real aria the beauty of his singing was unforgettable.

He was also a successful Papageno for Garsington Opera last year, a role he'll be reprising next year at L'opéra de Toulon.

 William Berger sings Mozart's "Abendempfindung"

Berger and McGegan are also releasing a recording of late 18th-century operatic arias with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Berger also has a highly-acclaimed new recording out called "Insomnia" and we encourage you to read Berger's own thoughts on this very personal project.

Philip Cutlip Returns to Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

Philip Cutlip

San Francisco Bay area residents are in for a treat as the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is once again teaming up barihunk Philip Cutlip with early music conductor extraordinaire Nicholas McGegan.  The two have performed together in highly acclaimed performances of Haydn's The Creation, Handel's Messiah, Handel's Atalanta and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Anyone who has heard these two perform together knows it's always a special evening of music making. Cutlip and McGegan are now teaming up for Handel's Alexander Feast with a cast that includes soprano Dominique Labelle and tenor Dann Coakwell. Visit the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra website for additional information.

William Berger sings "Revenge, Timotheus cries" from Alexander's Feast:

Cutlip has been a regular on this site  in repertoire ranging from the Handel, Mozart and Donizetti to Britten, Heggie and Philip Glass. We're eagerly looking forward to his Eugene Onegin with the Edmonton Opera in May 2013. His recording of Joseph De Rocher in Heggie's Dead Man Walking will be released on Virgin Classics on April 24th.

Philip Cutlip as Joseph De Rocher

Frequently heard in performances with New York Festival of Song, Cutlip gave the world premiere of American Love Songs - a set of 10 commissioned pieces for vocal quartet - at the Tisch Center for the Arts and at the 92nd Street Y; appeared in a program of commissioned works at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; and also toured with NYFOS to Louisville for Rorem's Evidence of Things Not Seen.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com