Joshua Jeremiah and Trevor Martin(photo: Frank Zipperer)
The Asheville Lyric Opera has a huge success on its hands and bragging rights for landing the highly anticipated world premiere
of composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos' "When Adonis Calls," which debuted on May 11th. There are additional performances on May 12 and 13. Asheville is also the home of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, whose poetry was refashioned into the libretto. Tickets are available online.
Joshua Jeremiah and Trevor Martin(photo: Frank Zipperer)
The opera, which was work-shopped at the Fort Worth Opera Festival's
Frontiers series of new works in 2015, chronicles the tale of a distant relationship between an accomplished, if aging and discouraged Poet an a young, inspired, and impetuous Muse. Two male dancers create the emotional subtext as the poets banter back and forth of their loves, their animosities, their jealousies, and their creative furies.
Trevor Martin(photo: Frank Zipperer)
The piece is scored for two baritones, string quartet, percussionist and two dancers (and comes with an adult content warning). When Adonis Calls features
a low and high baritone, and Asheville Lyric Opera featured two
amazing performers in Trevor Martin and Joshua Jeremiah, as well as two
local dancers.
Joshua Jeremiah and Trevor Martin and dancers(photo: Frank Zipperer)
"When Adonis Calls" already has a second performance scheduled in
Chicago with the Thompson Street Opera Company this Fall. Details are
forthcoming. Our site has also learned that discussions are underway for
a West Coast premiere.
Malte Roesner(Photo: Jack Michaels)
For those on the West Coast, you'll have an opportunity to experience another world premiere from Clint Borzoni, when German bass Malte Roesner premieres the song cycle "The Hidden Singer, " based on the poetry of Wendell Berry. The cycle revolves around seven poems all associated with birds,
which are normally correlated with high soprano voices. The song cycle is scored for string
quartet, but opens with an a cappella setting.
The concert will be held at Ansel Adams' former home in San Francisco
and tickets include a generous supply of wine and food, in keeping with
Musica Marin's tradition to present chamber music in the original
intimate, salon setting of a home. The song cycle will be paired with
Mendelssohn's String Quartet in A minor. Tickets for the June 3rd
concert are available online.
We've always maintained that the smaller houses and festivals are where the best new operas are being performed. So kudos to the Asheville Lyric Opera for landing the highly anticipated world premiere of composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos' "When Adonis Calls" on May 11th. Asheville is also the home of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, whose poetry was refashioned into the libretto.
The opera, which was work-shopped at the Fort Worth Opera Festival's Frontiers series of new works in 2015, chronicles the tumultuous correspondence between an established writer and an eager young admirer.
"Two Nooses" from the Fort Worth Opera Festival
The piece is scored for two baritones, string quartet, percussionist and two dancers (and comes with an adult content warning). When Adonis Calls features a low and high baritone, and Asheville Lyric Opera will feature two amazing performers in Trevor Martin and Joshua Jeremiah, as well as two local dancers. The opera will have additional performances on March 12 and 13 and is expected to sell out in the 110 seat Masonic Temple. Tickets are available online.
Composers and opera administrators will tell you that a second performance of a work is often more difficult than the premiere. Remarkably, Adonis already has a second performance scheduled in Chicago with the Thompson Street Opera Company this Fall. Details are forthcoming. Our site has also learned that discussions are underway for a West Coast premiere.
Marco Vassalli sings Clint Borzoni's beautiful "Stufen" with Musica Marin:
Borzoni, along with Jake Heggie, has become particularly associated for writing major roles and works for low male voices. He has written a song cycle for bass-baritone Tim
Hill, several songs for bass-baritone Randal Turner, penned two pieces for String Quartet and baritone for Marco Vassalli, and is currently working on a commission for bass Malte Roesner to be premiered at Musica Marin this year. Turner’s songs
appear on his CD, “Living American Composers” and were performed at the 9/11 tribute at the U.S. embassy in Switzerland. He also wrote a two act opera titled “Antinous and Hadrian,” which features a baritone lead. His opera The Copper Queen, also to a libretto by John de los Santos, won Arizona Opera's Sparks Competition for new works in a runaway. The opera is based on a true story about the alleged ghost of a prostitute haunting a historic hotel in Bisbee, Arizona.
Barihunk Joshua Jeremiah will be playing David in Vital Opera's production of Samuel Barber and Gian-Carlo Menotti's Four Hands of Bridge!
A Hand of Bridge--a nine minute opera
that briefly, but powerfully, touches on themes of societal expectation,
commercialism, marital infidelity, greed, repression, isolation, and
loss of love... all over one hand of bridge. It premiered as a part of Menotti’s Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto on June 17, 1959 at the Teatro Caio Melisso.
The piece is possibly the shortest opera that is regularly performed: it lasts about nine minutes. However, Vital Opera will present four
consecutive performances of A Hand of Bridge by the same cast, for the
same audience. Audience members will be encouraged to change seats if
they like, in order to gain an additional perspective as the evening
progresses. These performances will then be followed by a guided
conversation between audience and performers about the whole experience.
Jeremiah will be joined by tenor Brent Reilly Turner as Bill, Jeremy Carlisle Parker as Geraldine and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Panara as Sally. Performances are on April 21 and 22, at 8pm. Tickets are $20 ($15 for seniors and students) and are available online.
Joshua Jeremiah lends some additional muscle to Anna Nicole cast
Tickets for the long-awaited US premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole at New York City Opera are going on sale today. The opera will open the company's 2013–14 season on September 17, with performances running through September 28. The co-production with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) launches the 2013 Next Wave Festival. Click HERE for tickets.
The opera is based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith, but also features two of our favorite barihunks. The tall and seemingly age-defying Rod Gilfry will play Anna Nicole’s lawyer, Howard Stern. Gilfry returns to NYCO after a critically acclaimed run as Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte with the company in 2012. NYCO has already announced that he will return in 2014 in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.
Rod Gilfry and James Barbour
Also returning to the company is Joshua Jeremiah, who worked for the company as covers for the roles of Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He also performed with NYCO in an all-Bernstein concert.
Joshua Jeremiah sings "Voilà donc la terrible cité!" from Massenet's Thais:
The opera Anna Nicole mixes comedy and tragedy with a score that draws on jazz, blues, musical theater and traditional operatic structures. The company has enlisted both Broadway stars and opera singers for the cast.
Those who love a nice "Broadway baritone" will be thrilled that James Barbour will play the role of Daddy Hogan. Barbour received the Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Awards nominations for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Sydney Carton in the Broadway musical version of A Tale of Two Cities. Other Broadway credits include Carousel, Jane Eyre (Drama League Award Nomination), Beauty And The Beast, Urinetown, Assassins, and Cyrano The Musical. This will be his New York City Opera debut.
We mentioned the New York Festival of Song's A Goyishe Christmas to You! Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters back in July, but figured it was time for a reminder. There will be two performances at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center on Tuesday, November 29 and Thursday, December 1. The program includes not one, but two barihunks who have been featured on this site, John Brancy and Joshua Jeremiah. They will joined by international opera star Stephanie Blythe, Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, Josh Breitzer and the inimitable Steven Blier.
The evening will be filled by Yuletide songs from Jewish songwriters including Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Johnny Marks, Irving Berlin, Jay Livingston and many others. Rumor has it that the holiday classic "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will be sung in Yiddish, Klezmer-style. And you wonder why we love New York?
There will also be a complimentary wine reception after the show and we'd love for our readers to send us your iPhone pictures with the singers. Send them to Barihunks@gmail.com. Call 212.501.3330 for tickets or visit the NY Festival of Song website.
Blythe and Blier together already guarantee an evening of fun of non-stop entertainment, so the two barihunks are icing on the Yule log. Here's a little teaser for the show.
If you want to enjoy barihunks everyday for an entire year, order our charity calendar today. Click HERE and help support the young artists who make our musical experiences so enjoyable.
Steven Blier's always entertaining and interesting New York Festival of Song has announced its 2011-12 five-program series at Merkin Concert Hall. As always, the Festival of Song will be programmed with some of the best young talent in opera and once again there will be plenty of barihunks to enjoy.
Andrew Garland
Theseason opens on Oct. 25 and 27 with In the Memory Palace: Games of Love featuring barihunk Andrew Garland, who will be joined by Michelle Areyzaga, Rebecca Jo Loeb and Paul Appleby. The program centers around the premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s song cycle, The Memory Palace, which evokes scenes of East Coast solitude with his haunting music and mordant lyrics.
Jesse Blumberg & Timothy McDevitt
On Novemeber 17th, the festival will reprise Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life with barihunks Jesse Blumberg and Timothy McDevitt, joined by Scott Murphee and Matt Boehler. The program is a "touching celebration of the lives and art of gay men in works that reflect the heritage of gay composers in art song, as well as contemporary songs about the gay experience."
Joahua Jeremiah & John Brancy
On November 29 and December 1 the Festival will feature barihunks John Brancy and Joshua Jeremiah joined by Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, Josh Breitzer for A Goyishe Christmas to You! Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters.
Jesse Blumberg
On February 14 and 16th, Jesse Blumberg returns for A Modern Person's Guide to Hooking Up and Breaking Up along with Anne-Carolyn Bird, Liza Forrester, Alex Mansoori and Jesse Blumberg. The show is described as a “quirky survey of the awkwardness, pain, lust and perversity of contemporary relationships."
The season concludes on March 11th with New York to Paris, Paris to Paradise featuring members of Caramoor’s 2012 Vocal Rising Stars program.
You can click HERE for tickets and additional program information.
If you're in New York City on Monday, June 6th, you will definitely want to head to Henry's on the Manhattan's Upper West Side. The inimitable Steven Blier, who leads the New York Festival of Song, has put together the tenth installment of "Sing For Your Supper," with some amazing talent that includes barihunk Josh Jeremiah.
The program is called "The Girls of Summer" and the theme is the pleasure of summer and the perennial allure of women. Jeremiah will be joined by Matt Boehler, Mary Testa, Andrew Owens and the amazing Laquita Mitchell. The show starts at 10 PM, but you'll want to come earlier for dinner at this popular bistro.
Reservations are required, so click on the highlighted text and book now!
A native of Myerstown, Pennsylvania, Josh Jeremiah graduated with a magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Music from the Shenandoah Conservatory and a Masters of Music and Artists Diploma from the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. He has been a young artist program participant at the Seattle Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Wolf Trap Opera Company and Cincinnati Opera.
In Seattle he performed the title role of Gianni Schicchi, Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, the title role of Falstaff and Uberto in Pergolesi’s La serva padrona. In Cincinnati Opera he performed the role of Judge 3 in Margaret Garner and Count Ceprano in Rigoletto.
Two young barihunks will be singing at smaller opera companies that sit in the shadow of the esteemed Seattle Opera. Joshua Jeremiah is new to Barihunks and he is a welcome addition. He is yet another singer who came through the Seattle Young Artists Program. Others include Michael Krzankowski, Jonathan Lasch, Michael Todd Simpson, David Adam Moore, Morgan Smith and Tom Forde (see below).Visit the Spokane Opera website for ticket information.
Joshua Jeremiah will playing the role of Silvo in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," a role that we rarely see on Barihunks. However, we hear that Jeremiah will be sans shirt, which should be a good enough excuse to visit Spokane (as witnessed from the photo). We would like to welcome this talented young singer to the site.
Another graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program is Tom Forde, who has appeared on this site before. He's making his debut as the title character in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." Forde has a rich voice and winning stage personality, so he will undoubtedly triumph in this role. We understand that he spent some extra time at the gym to ensure that he looked great in his costume. Visit the Tacoma Opera website for ticket information. ************************************* Subscribe to Barihunks by Email *************************************
