Benjamin Werth joins the Aachen gang

Benjamin Werth in West Side Story

American barihunk Benjamin Werth, who has made his career in Europe in recent years, is making his debut with the opera at Theater Aachen in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. Werth is singing Riff, the gang leader of the Jets who suggests the rumble with the Sharks.

Since 2009, Werth has been part of the ensemble of the Landestheater Coburg where he sang Orest in Gluck's Iphigenie auf Tauris, Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Renato in Verdi's Un ballo in Maschera, Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville, Zurga in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. This won't be his first foray into Broadway musicals, as he performed Sam in George Gershwin's Crazy for You in 2011.

Jochen Kool

An additional bonus in this production is the physical dancing of Jochen Kool, who portrays fellow Jets gang member A-Rab. 

Performance begin on Friday, November 21st and run through the Spring of 2015. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

The 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar is available in plenty of time for the holidays. Order yours today!

Reader Submission: Benjamin Werth

Benjamin Werth

Ohio native Benjamin Werth is our latest reader submission and it comes from Germany. Werth who honed his skills in regional companies throughout the United States, has been based at the Landestheatre Coburg about an hour from Bayreuth, Germany for the last three years. His recent roles there include the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Argante in Handel's Rinaldo and Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Previous roles included Orestes in Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris, Zurga in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers and Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. 

Werth studied at Ohio State University, the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Opera Institute at Boston University. He participated in the Young Artists Program at the Chautauqua Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and Central City Opera. He was a finalist in the 2008 New England Regionals of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Benjamin Werth

In 2008 he made ​​his debut as Escamillo ("Carmen") at the Ash Lawn Opera. In Boston he appeared as Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville,  Laurent  in Pickers Therese Raquin, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute and Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.  In Des Moines he sang Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

His performances of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly in Coburg open on March 24 and tickets are available online.