Alexander Birch Elliott in Valentine's Day Concert; Returning to Portland Opera

Alexander Birch Elliott at the San Francisco Opera

Alexander Birch Elliott, who is wrapping up a run as John Brooke in Mark Adamo's Little Women today, will be featured in a Valentine's concert on Saturday, February 13th with Opera Louisiane. He'll be joined by soprano Chelsea Basler, accompanist Michael Borowitz and cellist Susannah Montandon. They will perform opera arias, duets and Boradway showstoppers. Tickets are available online.

From April 1-5, he'll sing Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Orlando Philharmonic. This summer, he returns to the Portland Opera Festival, where he will perform Anthony in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. He previously performed Frank in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus and Belcore in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love with the company.

You can read an interview with him on the Madison Opera Blog.

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek joins Beauty and the Beast tour

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

Barihunk Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek will be joining the national tour of Beauty and the Beast as Gaston. The entire tour schedule is available online.

He's not new to singing Broadway music, having sung Tommy in The Music Man at Ash Lawn Opera, John Wilkes Booth in ASSASSINS with Four Seasons Theater and “The Best of Opera and Broadway” with Opera Louisiane. He's also performed in a number of cabaret shows and recently performed a solo show at SubCulture, which included music by Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

Reader Submission: Snowboarding Barihunk Christiaan Smith Kotlarek

Christiaan Smith Kotlarek

Our latest Reader Submission is the second one by a very fortunate soprano, who seems to get cast opposite some of the hottest men in opera. She was as surprised as us that no one had ever submitted Christiaan Smith Kotlarek.

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek studied at the Boston University Opera Institute where he was a Phyllis Curtin Artist. His professional credits include roles with the Madison Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera, where he was also an apprentice artist. In 2007, Christiaan toured the Marche region of Italy singing the role of Marco in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi.

Christiaan Smith Kotlarek

On January 31st he performed in Opera Louisiane's “The Best of Opera and Broadway” hosted by Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne at the Old State Capitol. In October, he was Christiano in Madison Opera's production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera which included fellow barihunk Thomas Forde as Count Ribbing. He is currently at the Music Academy of the West where he is covering the role of Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute. 

Christiann Smith Kotlarek sings "That Moment On" from the song cycle  

Pieces of 9/11 by Jake Heggie:

While at Boston University, he met composer Jake Heggie, who invited him to sing his song cycle Pieces of 9/11. The composer must have been impressed, as he'll be singing the barihunk role of Joseph DeRocher in Dead Man Walking with the Modern American Music Project in Asheville, North Carolina on April 26 and 27.

His great body is the result of his penchant for snowboarding and extreme sports in his spare time. In fact, he has been a snowboard instructor for about a decade at Norway Mountain in Michigan.

You can read an extensive interview with him on the Madison Opera blog. He also has a blog called OutsideTheOperaBox where he discusses music and fitness.