Wes Mason to sing Pelleas at AVA

Wes Mason as seen in the 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar. From the Ft. Worth Opera's "Before Night Falls"

Barihunk Wes Mason will perform Pelléas opposite soprano Chloé Moore's Mélisande in a performance of the Academy of Vocal Arts’ upcoming production of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande running from February 25th through March 1st.  

Wes Mason and Chloé Moore discuss and perform an excerpt from Pelléas et Mélisande:


For the past seven seasons, The Academy of Vocal Arts has offered as part of its season, a fully staged opera with piano accompaniment in order to showcase AVA’s talented artists in roles they might not otherwise have an opportunity to perform. Often, these are operas that require large orchestras that would not fit into AVA’s small theater. Music director Luke Housner will be the pianist.

Bass Patrick Guetti sings the role of Arkel:


 Zachary Nelson (Golaud) and soprano Sydney Mancasola (Mélisande) sing Act l scene:


There are multiple casts, but Wes Mason will perform Pelléas for the performance on Tuesday, February 28 at 7:30 PM. Patrick Guetti will be performing Arkel in all of the performances. Zachary Nelson will perform Golaud on February 25th and 28th, as well as March 1st. Tickets range from $10-$60 and are available at www.avaopera.org or 215 735-1685.

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AVA's Mock "Vanity Fair" Photo Shoot

The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia featured a wonderful mock version of Vanity Fair's photo of sexy opera singers that included barihunks Mariusz Kwiecien, Nathan Gunn and Erwin Schrott. AVA low voices include Scott Conner and Wes Mason, who has been a regular on this site.

From left to right: Mariusz Kwiecien, Polish baritone; Maija Kovalevska, Latvian soprano; Rolando Villazón, Mexican tenor; Nathan Gunn, American baritone; Danielle de Niese, Australian-born soprano; Erwin Schrott, Uruguayan bass; Anna Netrebko, Russian soprano. Photograph by Wayne Maser; styled by Sarajane Hoare.

Just a few of the exciting artists AVA audiences can look forward to hearing this year.  (l-r) Alexandra Maximova, Scott Conner, Maria Aleida, Nelson Ebo, Wes Mason, John Viscardi, and Chrystal Williams (Photo by Paul Sirochman)

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Happy Birthday, Zach Altman

Kempson (L) and Altman (R)

When we ran a shirtless photo of barihunk Zach Altman wearing nothing but a towel and it ended up being one of the most visited post on Barihunks. It has held a spot in the Top 10 posts ever since.

Today is Zach Altman's 26th birthday, so we thought it was a fitting time to celebrate with a new post and new photo.

The Philadelphia native is now headed to the Sarasota Opera to participate in their apprentice artist program.

What many people don't know is he one half of a Barihunk Duo, as his partner is Dan Kempson, who has also been featured on this site. The couple may not get to perform together much since they are both baritones, but they did appear on court television together over a demo tape dispute.

Sexy Zach Altman - A Barihunks favorite

Hopefully, one of our composer fans of this site will write a special duet for the sexy pair. If it happens, we promise to post it on the site.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Barihunks, you sexy thang.

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Nicholas Masters

The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia continues to churn out barihunks like Beyonce churns out hit songs. Meet Nicholas Masters, an adorable bass who recently performed in Monteverdi's "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" and Puccini's "La Boheme" at Wolf Trap Opera. At AVA he has performed in Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff and Anna Bolena.

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What's THAT Between Ben Wager's Legs?

We've heard of "hung like a horse," but an actual horse between your legs deserves a posting on Barihunks. Here is Ben Wager enjoying a little playtime with his horsey.

The AVA graduate has joined the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he will perform Zuniga in Carmen, Angelotti in Tosca, and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte. Additional engagements for 2009-10 include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Mozarteum of Salzburg under Ivor Bolton and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Oregon Symphony, and his debut at Los Angeles Opera as Julian Pinelli in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten.

He is also scheduled debut at Opera Cleveland as Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles, Masetto in Don Giovanni at Dallas Opera, and as Nikitich and Chernikovsky in Boris Godunov.

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Christopher Bolduc's Career About to Take Off

Christopher Bolduc is an emerging barihunk whose career we're watching. He already has appeared on this site's "It's hot in Santa Fe" feature (http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-hot-in-sante-fe.html). He's a student of Bill Schuman at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts and it looks like his career is about to take off complete with agency representation.

We noticed that he's booked this spring with the Palm Beach Opera and the Santa Fe Opera. He will also be appearing at that hotbed of barihunks, the Fort Worth Opera, as Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore. You can watch a preview of his Belcore above. His agency profile states that he is currently preparing Marcello in La Boheme, Valentin in Faust and Silvio in I Pagliacci.

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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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The Barihunk Bench is Deep

Barihunk fans don't need to worry about a shortage of pulchritudinous low voices when Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Nathan Gunn and Rod Gilfry have to exit the stage. Ben Wager is one more example of the deep bench of hunkiness that is out there in our training centers.

Blogger extraordinaire and grande diva La Cieca first defined the phrase "barihunk" and referenced the Santa Fe Apprentice Program as fertile ground for new talent. Other programs around the country like San Francisco's Merola program and Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts have also produced their fair share. Ben Wager went through both programs and he has the potential to be an instant site favorite.

Wager is a fourth year Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts and spent the summer of 2008 as a member of the prestigious Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera. During the 2008-2009 season, he will sing Enrico in Anna Bolena, Il Vescovo in La fiamma, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with the Academy of Vocal Arts, and will join Minnesota Opera to sing the bass roles in the North American premiere of Jonathan Dove's Adventures of Pinocchio.

Future engagements include company debuts with Opera Company of Philadelphia (Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia), Baltimore Opera (Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte) and Dallas Opera (Masetto in Don Giovanni). These are three of the top operas at Barihunks. We can't wait for him to advance to the roles of Tarquinius, Papageno and Don Giovanni.

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