Showing posts with label Norman Garrett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norman Garrett. Show all posts

Friday, July 14, 2017

World's largest gathering of barihunks at Glimmerglass?

Jarrett Ott, Michael Hewitt, Jarrett Porter and Brent Michael Smith (left) and Justin Austin (right)
Once again, director Francesca Zambello has deservedly landed on our site. Longtime readers know that most opera lovers credit her with beginning the barihunk craze and coining the phrase after having Nathan Gunn appear shirtless in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride. Now she may have created the largest single gathering of barihunks ever assembled at the Glimmerglass Festival, where she is the Artistic & General Director, as well as the stage director for Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Donizetti's The Siege of Calais and Ben Moore's Robin Hood.

Norman Garrett in Glimmerglass' Porgy and Bess
There are at least a dozen barihunks who we know of in the various casts and probably a handful more that we've not been made aware of yet. Most of them have appeared on this site in the past. The Glimmerglass artists include:
  • Norman Garrett as Crown in Porgy and Bess 
  • Brent Michael Smith as the cop in Porgy and Bess; Ariodates in Handel's Xerxes; and the Commentator in Derrick Wang's Scalia/Ginsburg.
  • Zach Owen as the English Spy in The Siege of Calais and the detective in Porgy and Bess.
  • Jarrett Ott as Curly in Oklahoma! 
  • Michael Hewitt as Jud Fry in Oklahoma! and Edoardo III in The Siege of Calais
  • Harry Greenleaf as Cord Elam in Oklahoma!
  • Jarrett Porter as Sam in Oklahoma!
  • Justin Austin as Jake in Porgy and Bess
  • Calvin Griffin as the Undertaker in Porgy and Bess and Elviro in Xerxes
  • Conor McDonald as Skidmore in Oklahoma!
  • Eric Shane covering roles in Oklahoma! and Porgy and Bess
The festival opened July 7th and runs through August 22. Additional cast information and tickets are available online.

POST UPDATE: We heard from some of the singers at Glimmerglass that we may have missed a few singers, including Makoto Winkler, Nicholas Davi, Carl DuPont and Adrian Timpau. We also made some casting updates to the list above.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Nicholas Pallesen to make NY recital debut



Nicholas Pallesen, winner of the 2013 George London Award, will be making his New York recital debut on Sunday, January 11, 2015 at the Morgan Library & Museum. He'll share the stage with soprano Angela Meade, who won the award in 2008.

Joined by accompanist Craig Rutenberg, Pallesen will perform Poulenc's Chansons villageoises, "Ha, welche Lust aus schönen Augen" from Marschner's Der Vampyr, and songs by Charles Ives. Pallesen performed the entire Der Vampyr with the Der Vampyr with the New Orleans Opera in 2013. He will join Meade for the duet "Tu pur lo sai" from Verdi's early opera I Due Foscari.

The George London Foundation Recital Series, which is in its 19th year, presents pairs of outstanding opera singers, many of whom were winners of a George London prize.

This year's competition will be held on Friday, February 27, 2015, at 4:00 PM. Last year's winners included three singers familiar to our readers, Norman Garrett, Cameron McPhail and Ryan Speedo Green.


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Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Tobias Greenhalgh latest Tirésias barihunk

Tobias Greenhalgh in Les mamelles de Tirésias (right)
Few operas seem to attract barihunk casting more than Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias and the latest production at the Wolf Trap Opera doesn't disappoint. They've cast barihunk and part-time super hero Tobias Greenhalgh in the role of Le mari, the husband of the title character.

Les Mamelles de Tirésias was Poulenc’s first opera and was composed during World War II. It is based on a surrealist play of the same name by Guillaume Apollinaire. The musical world of this opera is irresistible, referencing as it does not only music hall but also the composers of the time such as Chabrier and Satie.

Tobias Greenhalgh in Les Mamelles de Tirésias

Wolf Trap is performing the opera in a double-bill with Milhaud's Le pauvre matelot (The poor sailor). Although the lead role is sung by a tenor, two singers who have appeared on this site appear in the opera. Norman Garrett plays the sailor's friend and Ryan Speedo Greene plays his father-in-law.

The double-bill will be conducted by Timothy Myers with performances on August 8, 10 and 16. Tickets are available online.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Bevy of Barihunks at Wolf Trap's summer festival

Norman Garrett (left), Michael Adams (center) and Harry Greenleaf (right)
Now in it's 43rd year, the Wolf Trap Filene Young Artist program has featured some of the greatest singers in opera while in the nascent part of their careers. This year, they are bringing back one of their most esteemed alums, Eric Owens, as their first Wolf Trap Opera Artist in Residence. Owens will have a lot of low voice company, as numerous singers who have been featured on Barihunks are performing during their summer festival. Owens will perform in Aria Jukebox with some young aritsts on July 13th. Accompanied by Kim Pensinger Witman, audience members will have an opportunity to select the songs and arias.

Jeongcheol Cha
The first opera will be Handel's Giulio Cesare featuring Jeongcheol Cha as Achilla. He is new to this site (except for a brief mention). The Korean native has been featured in two important opera premieres, in the role of Wu Tianshi in the American premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Kommilitonen! in November 2011 and as Prince Gabriel III in the world premiere of David T. Little’s Vonkensport. He is a graduate of Seoul National University, Bard College Conservatory, and the Juilliard School. In the 2013-2014 season, Jeongcheol was heard at the Metropolitan Opera as Yamadori in Madama Butterfly and as second Watchman in Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Performances of Giulio Cesare are on June 27, June 29 and July 1st.  Other cast members include John Holiday as Cesare, Alex Rosen as Curio, Renée Rapier as Cornelia, Ying Fang as Cleopatra and Carolyn Sproule as Sesto.

On June 28th, Ryan Speedo Green will perform Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society of Washington under the baton of Bramwell Tovey. Other soloists include soprano Tracy Cox, mezzo Virginie Verrez and tenor Robert Watson. Green was recently featured on our site when his Live in HD performance was canceled by the Met.

Tobias Greenhalgh
On July 19th and 20th, the amazing Steven Blier will join barihunk and part-time Super Hero Tobias Greenhalgh and four other young artist in a "Houseful of Songs," where the audience will be taken through a house and have selected pieces of music performed in each room.

On July 27, accompanist Jeremy Frank will join a sextet of Studio Artists, including baritone Alex Rosen and baritone Harry Greenleaf. The will perform pieces by Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud, Poulenc, and Tailleferre.

Baritone Harry Greenleaf, a native of Wixom, Michigan, is a graduate of Michigan State University where he appeared in several productions, including Mozart's La finta giardiniera (Nardo), Gilbert & Sullivan's the Pirates of Penzance (The Pirate King), Sondheim's A Little Night Music (Carl-Magnus), and Mozart's the Magic Flute (Papageno). In 2013, Greenleaf appeared as Baron Douphol in Wolf Trap Opera's production of Verdi's La traviata at the Filene Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. Harry will begin his Master's degree in voice at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music this fall. Outside of singing, Harry enjoys reading, running outside, and playing racquetball.

From August 8-16, Wolf Trap will feature a French double-bill of Milhaud's Le pauvre matelot and Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias. Regular readers of this site know that we often feature Les mamelles de Tirésias and its barihunk role of Le Mari, which will be performed by Tobias Greenhalgh in this production. The cast also includes Harry Greenleaf as Monsieur Barbu and Michael Adams, who has been featured on this site, as Presto. The title role will be performed by soprano Mireille Asselin. Norman Garrett and Ryan Speedo Green, who have been regulars on our site, are both featured in Le pauvre matelot.

Tickets for all performances are available online or by calling 1.877.WOLFTRAP.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Raves for Crossley-Mercer and Maltman in sexy Marriage of Figaro

Malin Christensson and Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Los Angeles (Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times)
We posted about the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Mozart -Da Ponte Trilogy awhile back. If you missed getting tickets for Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, you missed some serious eye-candy, with three barihunks who have been on this site. Leading the way was the sexy Figaro of Edwin Crossley-Mercer.  

The LA Times wrote, "Baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer was a distant, angry, virile yet, as Alaïa dressed him, metrosexual Figaro." After seeing the pictures, we would have added "smoking hot" to the list of superlatives. Also in the cast is Christopher Maltman as the Count. The LA Times wrote, "Maltman [wore] tight whites that only a powerful man could get away with, but Maltman is a magnetic baritone scarily uncowed. When outwitted, he still holds all the power, and he sang that way." In the small role of Antonio is Barihunk calendar model Brandon Cedel.

Dorothea Röschmann and Christopher Maltman (Genaro Molina)
There are still two performances remaining on May 23 and May 25. Conducting wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel is leading the orchestra. Visit their website for tickets.

If you want to catch Crossley-Mercer in the United States, you may want to catch one of these performances. When he wraps up on May 25th, he heads back to Europe for a series of concerts and operas in France and Germany. He kicks of on June 9th at the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen before heading to the Théâtre des Champs Élysées on June 20th for Fauré's Pénélope. There are no other U.S. performances listed on his schedule.

If you want to catch Brandon Cedel, he'll be appearing at the Wolf Trap Opera beginning on June 21st in Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims. That production also includes barihunks Aaron Sorensen, Norman Garrett and Steven LaBrie. Additional information is available online. 

Friday, May 10, 2013

Solomon Howard and Norman Garrett to join Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program

Norman Garrett (left in Carmen) and Soloman Howard with Indra Thomas and Noah Stewart
The Washington National Opera has announced its roster for their 12th season of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. It will include four baritones/basses, including two who we've featured on this site, Soloman Howard and Norman Garrett. They will be joined by baritone Christian Bowers and bass Wei Wu.

The program is expanding from ten artists to twelve artists this year and will include mentorship by its new Artist in Residence, soprano Deborah Voigt, as well as voice teachers Diana Soviero and William Stone, guest master teachers Carol Vaness and Peter Kazaras, and visiting vocal coach Kathleen Kelly.

The new class of young artists will participate in several world premiere productions during the 2013-2014 season, including new commissions from WNO’s American Opera Initiative and Jeanine Tesori’s new family opera The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me. The program will also continue its exchange with the Bolshoi Young Artists Opera Program and will send several artists to Moscow for a two-week period in 2014.

Other participants will include soprano Jacqueline Echols, tenor Yuri Gorodetski, tenor Yi Li, pianist Kevin Miller, pianist Tomoko Nakayama, mezzo Deborah Nansteel, tenor Patrick O’Halloran and soprano Shantelle Przybylo.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

BREAKING NEWS: McCammon Winners Announced

Andrew Garland & Norman Garrett
The winners of the 2012 McCammon Voice Competition have just been announced and two of the award winners were barihunks who have been featured on our site. Congratulations to Norman Garrett who won 3rd Prize and to Andrew Garland who won the coveted Audience Favorite Award.

Since its debut in 1985, the McCammon Voice Competition has grown into one of the world's most important operatic events. Every two years, the contest showcases the most compelling young singers of our time. After several rounds of reviews and eliminations, the McCammon finalists engage in two days of intense competition. Many of the winners are catapulted onto major opera stages.

Previous barihunk winners include Jonathan Beyer and Donovan Singletary. Both men are appearing at the upcoming Ft. Worth Opera Festival in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro."

Donovan Singletary
Andrew Garland can next be seen as Mercutio in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Annapolis Opera.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Barihunk Breakout in Philly

Troy Cook performs in Philly (Ryan Collerd - The New York Times)
Troy Cook, who is one of only three barihunks to appear "The Full Okulitch" on this site was recently part of a New York Times article on the latest hot trend in opera, "Random Acts of Culture." These "spontaneous" public breakouts of opera have recently occurred at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, London's train stations, New York City and even Akron, Ohio.

Here is a video of Cook's performance at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market where he is joined by fellow barihunks Norman Garrett and Daniel Mobbs. If anyone doesn't believe that music is good for the soul, check out the sheer joy on the faces of the people watching. They sure look happier than Phillies or Eagles fans.



Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Barihunks Troy Cook, Norman Garrett & Daniel Mobbs




Monday, December 21, 2009

Who Would YOU Like To See On Barihunks

Barihunks receives a lot of mail suggesting new "talent" for the site. Here are some of the hottest barihunks who arrived in our In Box. We want to know who you'd like to see more of. Use the handy poll to the right and feel free to vote for anyone who you find hot.

DOUG CARPENTER


NORMAN GARRETT


MORGAN MOODY


KAY STIEFERMANN


JOCHEN KUPFER

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