Randal Turner sings Messiah in Birmingham

Randal Turner's CD cover

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we begin our annual posts on Messiahs around the world. One that we're particularly excited about is in Birmingham, Alabama with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Randal Turner will be singing the baritone part and will be joined by two other amazing male voices: countertenor Ryan Belongie and tenor Colin Ainsworth. Kimberly McCord will take on the soprano part. Performances are on December 15 and 16 and tickets are available online.

Last year, the Indianapolis Performing Arts Examiner wrote of his Messiah:

Of all the special moments (and there were many) provided by each singer, there was one that stood out. With his deeply rich and imposing voice, Turner was commanding when he sang the familiar, "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 

Turner has shown himself to be adept at singing everything from early music to modern music. We've featured him in another Handel role, Siroe, as well as last year's Messiah in Indianapolis. His range of roles has taken him into Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini, as well as contemporary composers like Benjamin Britten, John Cage, Andre Previn and Rufus Wainwright. His CD of "Living American Composers" remains one of our favorite song recitals and is still available at CD Baby.

Randal Turner sings "Gelido inogni vena from Handels' Siroe:

Of course, you can enjoy Randal Turner in our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. He's appearing for the second year in a row and has an entire month dedicated to him:

Mark Stone sings Glen Roven's "Shakespeare Songs"

Mark Stone and Daniel Okulitch

One of our favorite song writers at Barihunks is the New York-based composer Glen Roven. He also seems to be the favorite of many actual barihunks, including Randal Turner and Daniel Okulitch, who both included his songs on their recent CD releases. His songs have also been sung in recital and on CD by Morgan Smith, David Adam Moore, Jonathan Beyer and Andrew Garland. Here is a selection of Mark Stone singing his "Shakespeare Songs" from a Carnegie Hall recital on May 19, 2010.



Roven's collection of Shakespeare Songs have just been published and are available at a 15% discount at Bill Holab Music by entering the discount code GRSS-15. [The offer is good until 1/1/2013].  

 Randal Turner's CD and be bought at CD Baby, Amazon or accessed on Spotify. Daniel Okulitch's CD can be purchased at GPR Records.

Randal Turner & Daniel Okulitch CDs Spotlight Living American Composers

New CDs by Daniel Okulitch & Randal Turner due for March 2011 release

Readers of this site who appreciate our great American composers are in luck. Two new CDs are due for release this month that showcase new American music. Barihunks Randal Turner and Daniel Okulitch are both releasing CDs this month that feature songs by Glen Roven, Ricky Ian Gordon and Jake Heggie. Okulich will also feature songs by Lowell Liebermann, while Turner will feature music by the wunderkind composer Clint Borzoni.

Daniel Okulitch and Randal Turner during their recordings

One other difference will be that Okulitch recorded his CD in the studio in anticipation of a series of live concerts. Turner's CD was recorded live in San Francisco and even features a special encore tribute to the "City by the Bay." Turner's concert will also be available in a high-definition DVD video format.

Both CDs will be available for pre-release purchase through this site. Stay tuned for more details.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Subscribe to Barihunks by Email

Tweet