Timothy McDevitt to reprise successful Les Mamelles de Tirésias performance

Tim McDevitt in Les Mamelles de Tirésias

Barihunk calendar model Timothy McDevitt will be performing the role of Le Mari in
Francis Poulenc’s first opera Les Mamelles de Tirésias at La Monnaie in Brussels. He'll be sharing performances with Jean-Jacques L'Anthoën. The production runs from January 16-19.

Les Mamelles de Tirésias, was composed during the Second World War and was based on a surrealist play of the same name by Guillaume Apollinaire. This production revives the arrangement for two pianos Benjamin Britten wrote in close collaboration with Poulenc, a version of the score that has not been played ever since its creation in 1958. By mixing dance and singing, the director Ted Huffman, together with young singers, reveals the poetic madness of this work.

You can check out this short film that was done for the European Network of Opera Academies and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence by Claudia Lee.

We contacted La Monnaie to see if Les Mamelles de Tirésias would be broadcast like their other operas, which you can view for three weeks after the performance. Unfortunately, they said that at this time there are no plans to broadcast the performance. We seriously hope that they reconsider.  Being able to watch their recent production of Thomas' Hamlet with Stephane Degout was a beautiful gift to the world of opera.

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

Bass-Barihunk Colin Ramsey to make Seattle Opera debut

Colin Ramsey in L'incoronazione de Poppea at Opera NEO

We introduced bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey last summer as one of the guys on the Operaticus fitness site on Facebook. He just finished a run yesterday as Collatinus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with Vespertine Opera in Seattle. We didn't have any pictures from the production, which is a shame, as it's one of our favorite operas to showcase barihunk talent. If some emerge, we promise to post them.

However, we did find a few amazing pictures of Colin Ramsey as Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Opera NEO, the summer opera festival and young artist workshop in San Diego, California.

Colin Ramsey & Alyssa Packard in L’incoronazione di Poppea:

If you missed this emerging barihunk, you'll have another shot when Ramsey makes his debut with the Seattle Opera as Mr. Kofner in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul. The opera runs from February 22-March 7. If you attend operas based on the Barihunk Quotient, then The Consul is a "must see" production, as it features barihunks Michael Todd Simpson as John Sorel, Steven LaBrie as the Secret Police Agent and Joseph Lattanzi as Assan.

Ramsey will reprise the role of Mr. Kofner in a different production of The Consul with Opera Santa Barbara on March 25 and 27.  That production will feature barihunk Joshua Jeremiah as John Sorel. In May, he moves back a few centuries to portray Somnus and Cadmus in the Pacific Musicworks's production of Handel's Semele in cooperation with the University of Washington.

Colin Ramsey in The Marriage Tango (L) and
L'incoronazione de Poppea (R)

Ramsey graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2011, where he received the Hugh Ross Award, awarded to singers with "unusual promise." An award winner with the Pasadena Opera Guild, he went on to become a studio artist at Opera Santa Barbara and the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program.

He made his debut with Opera Santa Barbara singing the Doganiere in La Boheme. At Wolf Trap Opera he was featured as Hermann in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, Jonas Fogg in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and as Figaro and Alidoro in a program of scenes.

Barihunk trio featured in Lenya Competition Documentary

Zachary James, Justin Hopkins and Doug Carpenter (L-R)

Three brilliant, talented and sexy barihunks are featured in the new mini-documentary about the Lotte Lenya Competition: Justin Hopkins, Doug Carpenter and Zachary James. 

The 18-minute film offers a close-up view of the Lotte Lenya Competition, tracing the journey of the 2013 Competition through the semi-finals, finals, announcement of the winners, and a 15th anniversary celebration concert at New York's Symphony Space. Through live footage and interviews, "Singing the Story: The Lotte Lenya Competition" reveals the rigorous and unique nature of the Lenya Competition, which challenges singers to go beyond the usual "stand and sing" approach of vocal competitions by requiring them to present fully acted performances of wide-ranging theater repertoire, from opera to Broadway—to "sing the story."

You can watch the entire documentary below:

Watch Doug Carpenter's winning set from the 2013 competition below:

Steven LaBrie to perform in "Operetta and the Silver Screen"

Steven LaBrie appearing with Light Opera of New York

Barihunk and part-time MAC model Steven LaBrie is going to be part of Light Opera of New York's concert "Operetta and the Silver Screen" on Wednesday, January 15th.  He'll be joined by soprano Brittany Robinson, soprano Lauren Jelenkovich, tenor Matthew Mane and Gerald Martin Moore at the piano.

The concert will be at The Players, the club founded by Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth in 1847 and designed by noted architect Stanford White. Tickets are $50 and are available online.

You can catch LaBrie onstage this year in Menotti's The Consul at the Seattle Opera from February 22-March 7 and in Rossini's Le Comte Ory at the Des Moines Metro Opera from July 5-18.

Introducing a barihunk duo performing in Chicago: Carl Frank & Brian von Rueden

Carl Frank (L) and Brian von Rueden (R)

We saw Oliver Camacho, part of the OperaNow! podcast team, post a picture of Carl Frank on Facebook with the comment, "Future barihunk." We checked him out and figured, "Why wait?" While we were were checking out the program that they are both performing, we noticed yet another barihunk in the cast.

Meet Carl Frank and Brian von Rueden, who will both be performing in "Cantate Domino," a program of German and Danish cantatas from the 17th century. There will be two Chicago perfomances, the first on Thursday, January 9th at Ebenezer Lutheran Church and the second on Monday, January 13 at the Chicago Temple. Tickets are available online.

Carl Frank regularly performsin both opera and oratorio.  He is a recent member of the Florentine Opera Studio, where he performed El Dancairo in Bizet's Carmen, Sid in Britten's Albert Herring, and Antonio Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. He has also performed Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with the Arbor Opera Theater Training Workshop.  Other roles include Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, John Brooke in Adamo's Little Women, Der Tod in Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Dr. Falke in Strauss' Die Fledermaus and Ford in Verdi's Falstaff.

Frank holds degrees in both Political Science and Vocal Performance from DePauw University and received his Master of Music from the University of Michigan.

 Brian von Rueden sings Mozart's "Abendempfindung"  with VOX 3

A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, baritone Brian von Rueden has been active in multiple areas of classical music in the Chicago area for over a decade. He has performed in oratorios, recitals and operas, as well as programmed recitals, commissioned new works, and composed music.

Von Rueden has served as Artistic Director for VOX 3 Collective since it was founded in 2006.  In this role, he has programmed and appeared on over 40 recitals in the company’s six seasons to date, each with a different cultural or thematic focus.  As a singer, Von Rueden has appeared in various operas, including Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Britten's  Rape of Lucretia, Krasa’s Brundibar, and Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges.

He has also often appeared in concert repertoire, having sung the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, bass solos in Handel’s Messiah, Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, and several cantatas and masses of Johann Sebastian Bach, most notably with Ars Musica Chicago and the Chicago Bach Ensemble. Von Rueden can be heard on VOX 3 Collective’s recordings “New Song” and “Spirit Within,” singing Eric Reda’s Iconic Waltzes and Frank Ferko’s Merton Songs.

Von Rueden earned his Master of Business Administration from National Louis University, his Master of Music from Roosevelt University and his Bachelor of Music from Valparaiso University.

Also, make sure to check out the always erudite Oliver Camacho on the OperaNow! podcast, which is available on iTunes or online. He is generally joined by the prematurely retired barihunk Michael Rice, mezzo Jennifer Rice and the hyper-entertaining Doug Dodson.

An overview of barihunks advancing in the Met Competition

We thought that we'd take a look at some of the baritones and basses who advanced in the Metropolitan Opera Regional Audtions. These singers will compete in the next round. This is list is not all-inclusive, but they are the singers who we've been following.

Edward Hanlon

Edward Hanlon, who we've featured before, was the winner of the Chicago District Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition held on October 12th at Northwestern University. He ended up taking 3rd place in the Metropolitan Opera Central Region. He's racked up a number of top prizes at other vocal competitions, as well. You can catch him as Frank in Strauss' Die Fledermaus with the Edmonton Opera from January 31- February 6.

Luis Alejandro Orozco

Mexican-American barihunk Luis Alejandro Orozco has appeared on this site before. He was a winner of the District Council's competition in Indiana. Orozco is as graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and he has performed with the Lake George Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera,  El Paso Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Lexington Philharmonic, Florida Grand Opera and Opera Theater of St Louis. You can catch him reprise his sexy performance as El Payador in Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires with the Syracuse Opera, from January 31-February 9.

Robert Balonek

Robert Balonek was one of the winners of the Eastern District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He attended SUNY Purchase College and the Mannes School of Music where he performed with the Mannes Baroque Ensemble. In March, you can catch Balonek in a semi-staged performance of Handel's Alceste with the American Classical Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall.

Other low voice coming out of the Eastern District Auditions were Takaoki Onishi, Kyle Oliver, Scott Russell and Brian Vu.

Iain MacNeil

 Iain MacNeil sings Debussy's "Ballade des femmes de Paris:

Iain MacNeil was one of the winners at the Great Lakes Region auditions. He was born and raised in Brockville, Ontario and was introduced to opera during his first year at Dalhousie University. MacNeil is currently at the University of Toronto, where he is currently completing an opera diploma. In 2013, he participated in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival.

Andrew Bogard

We introduced Mid-Atlantic Region winner a little over a year ago. Bogard received his undergraduate degree in vocal performance from the Julliard School, where he performed the roles of Peter Quince in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cousin Brandon in Hindemith’s Long Christmas Dinner. Bogard won first place in the 2014 Mario Lanza Scholarship Competition.  Upcoming performances include the Maestro in Golijov''s Ainadamar at Opera Philadelphia and Alidoro in La Cenerentola at Curtis Institute of Music.

Jarrett Ott

Also advancing from the Mid-Atlantic Region is Jarrett Ott. He is finishing up his Master’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music where he has performed  Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Gregor Mittenhoffer in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers, Valentin in Gounod’s Faust, Harašta in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and Le Mari in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias. This season he will also perform Ned Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen with Mikael Eliasen at various venues, as well as perform Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Riverside Symphonia. At Curtis he will sing roles in Poulenc's Dialogues des carmélites and Rossini's La Cenerentola. You can listen to some sound clip HERE.

Samuel James Dewese

Samuel James Dewese advanced in the Midwest Region. Dewese is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he performed Mercurio in Cavalli's La Calisto, Anselmo in Man of La Mancha, and Mr. Gedge in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring. In July of 2011,  Dewese originated the role of Jackson the Slave in 1787: We the People with Creative Dramatics Workshop. He was named the Joann Damman Memorial Scholarship winner by the Bel Canto Foundation of Chicago in April 2010 and April 2011, as well as the recipient of the Golden Lyre Foundation Award from the University of Illinois School of Music in May 2011.

Steven Eddy

Indiana University graduate Steven Eddy advanced in Northwest Region Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions. Eddy attended one of our Barihunks lunches while performing in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the Fort Worth Opera Festival (which is where he got that great shirt!). He returns to the Festival this year singing the role of Ponchel in Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer-Prize winning opera Silent Night.

Andrew Craig Brown

Andrew Craig Brown advanced in the Western Regionals in Los Angeles. He graduated from the Yale School of Music where he performed in productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan Tutte. He has recorded the role of Il Duca Ramiro in Donizetti's Maria Padilla with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Patrick Murray

Patrick Murray also advanced at the Western Regionals in Los Angeles. Murray graduated from the University of Southern California before being a granted a Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed him to study in Vienna, Austria. He recently spent the winter as a Studio Artist with the Sarasota Opera and is being mentored by fellow barihunk Luca Pisaroni. You can listen to him sing HERE.

Jeff Williams

Pennsylvania native Jeffrey Williams, was one of our reader submissions last year, and he just advanced in the Nashville Auditions. Following a summer at the Russian Opera Workshop at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia he sworked with fellow barihunk Tom Krause at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and in Sachrang, Germany. Williams has portrayed Lord Ruthven in Marschner’s Der Vampyr, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Prince Yeletsky in Pique Dame, the title role in Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, the title role in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Rabonnier (La rondine), Le Commissaire (Orphée), Jack Point (Yeomen of the Guard), Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring), Strephon (Iolanthe) and Marchese d’Obigny (La Traviata), as well as opera chorus work with the Washington National Opera, the Baltimore Opera, and Florida Grand Opera.