Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek & Matthew Anchel star in "Grease" parody

"Summer Nights" leads Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta and Matthew Anchel & Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

A video resurfaced last week of a bunch of students at the 2013 Music Academy of the West (MAW) in Santa Barbara, California performing a parody of "Summer Loving" from Grease. The video was created and produced by one of the funniest people in all of opera, bass Matthew Anchel. He plays the Olivia Newton-John role of Sandy Olsson, while barihunk Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek cranks up the hotness knob on John Travolta in the Danny Zuko role. The video is actually part of a 24-minute video called "Real Housewives of MAW."

The Music Academy of the West is a well-respected summer music festival for young artists, which has been under the direction of the legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne since 1997.

 Watch the MAW and original version of "Summer Nights":

You can also catch Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek onstage as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème with the Townsend Opera in Modesto, California. The production, which is directed by Mark Streshinsky, will be performed on January 30 and February 1. Also in the cast is barihunk Eric Downs as Colline. Visit their website for ticket and performance information. He recently performed Schaunard with the Kentucky Opera.

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

In July, Smith-Kotlarek will be returning to Music Academy of the West to sing Dancaïre in Bizet's Carmen. The performance is in honor of Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday.

You should also check out his personal trainer website.

Watch the entire video "Real Housewives of MAW":

Also appearing in the video are barihunk John Brancy, Diana Newman, Claire DeSevigny, Ashley Dannewitz, Julie Adams, Quinto Ott, Mingjie Lei, David Leigh, Emily Siar, John Churchwell, Jonathan MacArthur, Keith Colclough, J. Warren Mitchell, Alex Raszkazoff, Emma McNairy, Sara Couden, John Kapusta, Christina Giuca and Helen Becqué

Celebrating Victor Herbert with Zach Altman

Reader Favorite: Zach Altman

Zach Altman remains one of our most popular singers on the site, so we thought that we'd use the anniversary of Victor Herbert's death to showcase the emerging barihunk. Since he first appeared on the site, he has regularly been one of our ten most visited singers along with singers like Simon Keenlyside, Mariusz Kwiecien, Randal Turner, Gabriel Bermudez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Erwin Schrott and Nathan Gunn.

Altman recently made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the Hollywood Bowl in Candide. He spent three summers studying at the Music Academy of the West, where he appeared in "Don Giovanni," "Tales of Hoffmann" and Bolcom's "A Wedding." He is a three-time prize winner in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition. In August, he'll be performing John Proctor in Robert Ward's "The Crucible" at the Chautauqua Institute.

Zach Altman

Victor Herbert was a German-American composer who lived from February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924. He was best known for his immensely popular operettas like "Naughty Marietta" and "Babes in Toyland." He was also a gifted cellist who played with many of the major orchestras in New York City. He was also one of the leading forces behind the Copyright Act of 1909, which guaranteed that composers would be paid or their work.





CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Subscribe to Barihunks by Email

Tweet

DON'T FORGET TO BUY YOUR COPY OF BARIHUNK RANDAL TURNER'S AMAZING NEW RECORDING 

Emerging Barihunk Zach Altman

How did we go this long without posting Zach Altman? He first came to our attention a year ago via an email from Philadelphia and somehow slipped through the cracks. An astute reader reminded us of our omission today and we're not going to waste any time posting this hottie.

The Philadelphia native is in his third year at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. He will be performing in Don Giovanni at the Academy on August 6th and 8th. In previous seasons he has performed in Don Pasquale, Tales of Hoffmann and Sargon's "A Clear Midnight."

Altman attended the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he received his Bacelor's and Master's degrees. He is also a two-time winner of the Encouragement Award in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition.



Subscribe to Barihunks by Email

EMAIL US AT barihunks@gmail.com