Reader Submission: David Pershall

David Pershall

A reader spotted David Pershall making his role debut as Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlo at Oper Burg Gars in Vienna and asked if we'd featured him before. Although we briefly mentioned him winning the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, we had actually never featured him before despite having seen him perform scenes from Don Pasquale, Les pêcheurs de perles, and Die Fledermaus in San Francisco.

He is a graduate of the Merola Opera program at San Francisco Opera and the Virginia Opera Resident Artist program. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Baylor University, as well as a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music. In addition to winning the Jensen
Competition, he has won the the Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition, the New Jersey Verismo Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition,  the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, the Hugo Kauder Competition for Voice, the Presser Music Foundation Award, and the Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence.

Pershall joined the Vienna State Opera this season where his performances include Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and Sebastian in The Tempest. He has perviously appeared at Sarasota Opera as Count di Luna in ll Trovatore, Vero Beach Opera as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Virginia Opera as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Amarillo Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor which was broadcast on PBS, El Paso Opera as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Virginia Opera as Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles, and with the Norwegian National Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème.

He has partnered with the Beethoven Easter Festival and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra to produce three live performance albums in which he headlined as Don Pedro in Maria Padilla, Manfredo in L’Amore dei Tre Re, and Orestes in Iphigénie en Tauride. 

Performances of Don Carlo run through August 8th and tickets and additional cast information is available online. Next season he will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in the title rôle of The Barber of Seville followed by performances of Schaunard in La Bohème and Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda. He'll be rotating Figaro with fellow barihunk Elliot Madore. Peshall's castmates include Ginger Costa-Jackson as Rosina and Taylor Stayton as Count Almaviva. Visit the Metropolitan Opera's website for additional information. 

John Brancy wins Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition

John Brancy

Barihunk John Brancy took 1st Prize at the 16th Annual Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition this weekend. He will receive a $15,000 award, as well as an opportunity to perform in Opera America's 2016 Emerging Artist Recital Series. 2nd Prize went to tenor Rexford Tester along with a $10,000 award, while soprano Ariana Wehr took 3rd Prize and the $7,500 award. Mezzo-Soprano Allegra de Vita won the Munday Encouragement Award and the $3,000 award.

The Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation was established by Lavinia Jensen in honor of her late husband, Fritz Jensen. The Foundation's purpose is to continue their philanthropic support of the musical arts by supporting young artists pursuing a career in opera.

A number of barihunks have taken 1st Prize at the competition, including Norman Garrett (2013), David Pershall (2012) and Edward Parks (2011).

Judges for the 2015 Finals were Ken Benson, Peter Russell, and Diana Soviero.

John  Brancy sings "God be with our boys tonight":

You can catch John Brancy on Sunday, May 31 for a recital of music including the works of Gershwin, Dvorak, Bernstein, Chopin and the Beatles. The concert will be at Governors Island at Nolan Park in New York on Sunday, May 31. The concert is free to the public. He will be accompanied by Peter Dugan.

This summer, he'll be making his company debut as Dandini in Rossini's Cenerentola with Opera Saratoga at the Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park. Performances run from July 2- 26. Additional information is available online. He'll be joined by fellow barihunk Ryan Kuster as the mysterious philosopher Alidoro. Additional information is available online.