Andrew Lovato stars in Santa Fe Opera spring tour

Andrew Lovato and the Spring Tour singers

Barihunk Andrew Lovato is hitting the road for the 2014 Santa Fe Opera Spring Opera Tour. He'll be joining former apprentices Abigail Mitchell, Rachel Hall, Joshua Dennis and legendary coach Kirt Pavitt in bringing opera to the backroads of New Mexico, Texas and Colorado.

The traveling opera troupe will perform a new piece called “True North,” which explores the relationship of the young singers whose characters were featured in Written in the Stars and Avastar, the original operas performed on previous tours.

The popular Spring Opera Tour has been going on for about 20 years bringing opera to students and families who might not otherwise experience live opera. The tour began yesterday in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and travels to Lubbock, Texas for a performance on Sunday. Over the next three weeks they'll travel to Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Albuquerque, Pagosa Springs, Farmington, Socorro and Moriarty.

Andrew Lovato sings Wagners "Der Engel" from the Wesendonck Lieder:

Andrew Lovato has participated in young artist programs with Santa Fe Opera and Central City Opera where he performed and covered roles in Morrison's Oscar, Offenbach's La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, Puccini's La Bohéme, Oklahoma and Mozart's Don Giovanni.  He is currently in the young artist program at the Minnesota Opera.

The Waukesha, Wisconsin native received his Bachelor of Music in Voice from Lawrence University and a Master of Music in Voice from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he performed roles in Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Britten's Peter Grimes, Robert Ward's The Crucible and Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Ryan McKinny returns to Los Angeles as Stanley Kowalski

Ryan McKinny

If there was any doubt left that Ryan McKinny has emerged as a major talent it was erased with the announcement that he'll sing Stanley Kowalski opposite megastar Renée Fleming in Andrè Previn's Streetcar Named Desire at the Los Angeles Opera. It also cements his budding reputation as a major barihunk, adding the notoriously sexy Stanley to his growing list of barihunk roles that includes Hercules, Escamillo and Jochanaan.

McKinny truly emerged last summer as the Dutchman in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Glimmerglass Festival under the direction of Francesca Zambello. McKinny's Dutchman was the sexiest portrayal of that role in operatic history and it worked masterfully. Regular readers know that we consider Zambello the "Queen Mother" of barihunks for her early and enthusiastic concept of casting baritones as not just villains and angry fathers, but as genuine sex symbols.

Ryan McKinny as the Dutchman

Streetcar Named Desire is being performed in a semi-staged concert production under the baton of Patrick Summers. The cast also includes the riveting tenor Anthony Dean Griffey as Blanche’s guileless suitor Mitch and the wonderful soprano Stacey Tappan as Stella. Performances are on May 18, 21 and 24 and tickets are available online.

It's nice to see Ryan McKinny return to the LA Opera, as it's the company that provided him many opportunities early in his career. He debuted there in 2008 as Montano in Verdis's Otello, and subsequently appeared as the Servant in Ullmann's The Broken Jug, Dr. Grenvil in Verdi's La Traviata, Don Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville and Leone in Handel's Tamerlano.

He can currently be seen in two productions at the Houston Grand Opera. He's currenlty singing Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold, also conducted by Patrick Summers, which runs from April 11-26 and then he switches to Escamillo in Bizet's  Carmen from April-May 10. McKinny is a former participant with the Houston Grand Opera Studio. (We should also mention that you don't want to miss Stefan Margita as Loge in Rheingold. His is the definitive performance!).

New Releases from Canadian barihunks Phillipe Sly and Jonathan Estabrooks

Two of our favorite Canadian barihunks have released CDs this week. They are strikingly different in repertory, but equally enjoyable.

The ridiculously talented Philippe Sly has released "In Love’s Minstrels" with accompanist Michael McMahon. They perform English music from the late 19th and early 20th century by Healey Willan, John Ireland, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.

You can listen to the CD at the CBC website, but if you're logging in from outside Canada you'll have to create a free login (it took us 20 seconds and was worth it!).

Jonathan Estabrooks has released his album, which he funded throught Kickstarter. "These Miles" mixes classical, pop and classic musical theater, 'These Miles.' He's joined by the Macedonia Radio Orchestra in everything from Neil Diamond's Play Me to the Canadian folk song Away from the Roll of the Sea. You can preview it at CD Baby. 

Aussie Morgan Pearse headed to Houston's Opera Studio

Morgan Pearse

We'll been following the career of the talented Aussie barihunk Morgan Pearse since 2011 when  a reader heard him perform in the Australia Singing Competition. His nascent career has been on a steady upswing since that day.

He completed his undergraduate training at he Sydney Conservatorium of Music and then headed to London where he completed a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music as the inaugural Dame Joan Sutherland scholar. We also covered him when he won the gold medal in the Royal Over-Seas League music competition and the Wigmore Hall final of the Young Classical Artists Trust.

We've just learned that he's coming to the United States as one of the studio artists with the Houston Grand Opera. We can only imagine his artistic growth working with Patrick Summers and others in one of the best young artist training programs in the world. Previous young artists have included bel canto specialist Joyce Di Donato and fellow barihunk Ryan McKinney, who has become one of the world's preeminent Wagnerians.

Morgan Pearse sings the Catalog Aria from Don Giovanni:

Pearse is slated to sing Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute, Yamadori  in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Anthony in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

Last year, Morgan performed the title role in Britten's Owen Wingrave for Sydney Chamber Opera, and as bass soloist in Handel's Messiah for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. We had some good-natured fun with his "crack" performance in Handel's Imeneo with the London Handel Festival.

Houston Grand Opera’s Opera Studio was co-founded in 1977 by composer Carlisle Floyd. Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 and is regarded as one of the major companies in the world. It has hosted the world premieres of the operas John Adams' Nixon in China, Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk  and Rachel Portman's The Little Prince.

Christopher Herbert singing Bach; European tour with New York Polyphony

Christopher Herbert

Bach lovers, rejoice and sing! You'll have two chances to hear Christopher Herbert sing music by your favorite composer, as he is the soloist in two upcoming performances of the baroque master's music.

On Monday, April 7th he'll perform Bach's Cantata BWV 32 ("Liebster Jesu, Mein Verlangen") with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and Choir at Trinity Wall Street in New York City. Five days later on Saturday, April 12th he'll be the bass soloist in Bach's Saint Matthew Passion with the Canticum Novum Singers at the Church of St. Jean Baptiste near Central Park.

After one New York performance on Tuesday, April 15, Christopher Herbert reunites with New York Polyphony for a European tour to the Netherlands and Germany where they will focus on Franco-Flemish Renaissance polyphony dominated by the theme of mortality.

New York Polyphony sings Times go by Turns:

New York Polyphony’s CD Times go by Turns was nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance category. The album features masses by Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, a three-voice mass setting by medieval English composer John Plummer, and three new works written for New York Polyphony by composers Gabriel Jackson, Andrew Smith, and the late Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.

Make sure to check out Christopher Herbert's new website (which includes the photo in the barihunk tee shirt shown above!).

Happy Birthday, Andrew Garland!!!

 

Andrew Garland in Hawaii

We recently posted about Andrew Garland's performances in Pagliacci and Carmina Burana with Hawaii Opera. We were fortunate enough to get a picture of the Massachusetts native in his Barihunks tee shirt as he set off to hit the waves. 

We also wanted to celebrate his birthday today, as he is one of our favorite singers on the scene today. His CD of American songs on GPR Records with pianist Donna Loewy remains one of our favorite baritone recitals.

He'll be returning to his homestate on Friday, May 16 for a Celebrity Benefit Concert at Plymouth's Spire Center for Performing Arts with accompanist Warren Jones. 


Andrew Garland launched his career as a student in Kingston, Massachusetts. He has been heard in opera performances and concert halls across the country, including appearances at Boston Lyric Opera, Chorus Pro Musica, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Seattle Opera, Knoxville Opera, Colorado Bach Ensemble, Boston Baroque, New York City Opera and more.

Tickets for the Celebrity Benefit Concert are $40 and are available online or by calling (508) 746-4488.

UPDATED: Barihunk Theo Hoffman transitioning to Theodora Hofflein

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Big news from one our favorite barihunks. Theo Hoffman has announced to his family, friends and the opera world that he is in the midst of sex reassignment surgery.

Hoffman has been working with coaches on a fach change to mezzo soprano, focusing on the coloratura mezzo repertory. The opera world has been incredibly supportive and it has been announced that she’ll be making her debut in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at a major U.S. opera festival in 2015. Hoffman was originally slated to sing the role of Dandini, which will now be sung by Wes Mason. The opera will be directed by Peter Kazaras.

Hoffman is asking people to begin referring to her as Theodora Hofflein.

Hoffman is not the first entertainer to have sex reassignment surgery. Both Alexis Arquette and Chaz Bono made headlines with their transitions in recent years.

UPDATE (April 2, 2014):