Brad Walker returning to SF Opera Lab (with drag diva Heklina)

Brad Walker

Bass-barihunk Brad Walker will return to the San Francisco Opera's successful SF Opera Lab pop-up on Halloween eve. The last pop-up was held at a mortuary turned night club and the latest will be hosted by legendary drag diva Heklina at the OASIS night club.

Walker will be joined by soprano Julie Adams and tenor Brenton Ryan, who he is appearing with at the San Francisco Opera in Janacek's Makropulos Case. Also performing will be mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier and pianist Jennifer Szeto.

Walker is a first-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and graduate of the 2015 Merola Opera Program, where he appeared as Betto in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. He has been an apprentice with Des Moines Metro Opera, Chautauqua Opera Company and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and received an award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Attendees to the SF Opera Lab are encouraged to come in costume or visit the costume booth provided by the San Francisco Opera Costume Shop for a chance to win SF Opera Lab swag and tickets. The performance begins at 8pm (doors open at 7pm) and the party continues after the show with a live DJ. This event is 21+ only with valid photo ID.

Tickets are $25 advance at sfoperalab.com and you must be older than 21 years of age.

David Pershall makes San Francisco debut with Barihunk Quintet in Andrea Chénier

David Pershall

American barihunk David Pershall will make his belated San Francisco Opera debut on September 9th as Roucher in Giordano's Andrea Chénier. Pershall returns to San Francisco, where is was a 2008 participant in the Merola Opera program, which has had a long association with the company. While at Merola, Pershall sang Dr. Malatesta in Act 2 of Donizetti's Don Pasquale for the Schwabacher Summer Concert, Zurga in scenes from Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles and Falke in scenes from Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus for their Grand Finale Concert.

Pershall will be joined by a barihunk quintet, which is unusual for one of the verismo standards of the repertory. Joining him are Edward Nelson as Pietro Fléville, Brad Walker as Dumas, Anthony Reed as Schmidt and Anders Fröhlich as the Major-Domo. Performances run from September 9-30 and Maddelena will be sung by Anna Pirozzi, Chenier by Younghoon Lee and Gerard by George Gagnidze. Tickets are available online.

Edward Nelson, Anders Fröhlich, Anthony Reed and Brad Walker (l-r)

Pershall has recently appeared at the Vienna State Opera as Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in Donizetti's L’Elisir d’Amore, Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Sebastian in Adès' The Tempest. He has performed Figaro in an abridged, English version of Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Metropolitan Opera and also appeared there in the roles of Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda.

Pershall also has a close partnership with the Beethoven Easter Festival and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra with whom he participated in three live performance albums, featuring  performances as Don Pedro in Donizetti's Maria Padilla, Manfredo in Montemezzi's L’Amore dei Tre Re, and Orestes in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.

He has won many prestigious vocal competitions, most recently the top prize in the annual George London Competition.