Justin Hopkins making Opera Vlaanderen debut as Lord Krishna

Justin Hopkins (Photo @Ellen Appel) and Satygraha (photo @Koen Broos)

American bass-barihunk Justin Hopkins is at Opera Vlaanderen this month, where he'll make his company debut singing Lord Krishna and Parsi Rustomji in Philip Glass' Satygraha in an all-star cast headed by the fearless tenor Peter Tantsits, the lush voiced mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, Rihab Chaieb, Denzil Delaere, Tineke Van Ingelgem and barihunk Robin Adams as Mr. Kellenbach. 

Satyagraha (Sanskrit for “truth force”) is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s early years in South Africa, where he developed his groundbreaking ideas about nonviolent political resistance. Loosely based on the life of Gandhi, it forms the second part of Glass's "Portrait Trilogy" of operas about men who changed the world, which includes Einstein on the Beach and Akhnaten. 

The text is taken from the Bhagavad Gita and is sung in the original Sanskrit

Performances run from November 18-December 2. Tickets and additional information is available online.

Justin Hopkins takes on Beethoven, Glass and holiday standards

Justin Hopkins (photo on right: Ellen Appel, Ft Worth Opera)

The sexy, shirtless photo of Justin Hopkins that we posted on Facebook yesterday drew a lot of praise, as well as comments about his glorious voice. For those who would like to experience this amazing talent live, he has some upcoming performances on both sides of The Pond. 

On September 15 and 16, he'll be joining the Dayton Opera for their season opening performances of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. He'll be joined by soprano Kasia Borowiec, mezzo-soprano Noragh Devlin and tenor John Pickle. Tickets and additional program information is available online. 

He then heads to Opera Vlaanderen, where he'll sing Lord Krishna and Parsi Rustomji in Philip Glass' Satygraha in an all-star cast headed by the fearless tenor Peter Tantsits, the lush voiced mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis, Rihab Chaieb, Denzil Delaere and Tineke Van Ingelgem. This will be Hopkins' debut with the Belgian company. Performances run from November 18-December 2. Tickets and additional information is available online.

He then returns to his native shore, for a Holiday Pops concert with the Grand Rapids Symphony on December 6, 7, 8 and 9. The concert includes Hopkins singing holiday standards along with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Tickets are available online.