Things of Interest This Week: Boys in NY, Carbo's new CD, Barihunks Competing in Montreal

Jesse Blumberg (L) and Tim McDevitt (R)

Three things that we love are all back and under the same roof on June 4th: the great Steven Blier returns with his latest "Sing for your Supper" show with barihunks Jesse Blumberg and Tim McDevitt. Blier always creates interesting themes for his shows and his latest offering will center on summertime.

Blumberg and McDevitt will be joined by Alex Mansoori, Adrian Rosas and Gennard Lombardozzi in selections by Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Jason Robert Brown, Eubie Blake, Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Kern.

The show is at Henry's at Broadway and 105th in New York City and reservations are required.

Jose Carbo's "My Latin Heart"

Jose Carbo has released his first solo recital, My Latin Heart, which includes selections by Granada, Piazzolla and other Latin favorites.

The CD is available at ABC Records. You can also preview the CD and purchase it on iTunes.

Sidney Outlaw (L), Philippe Sly (C) and John Brancy (R)

Regular readers will know that we love to follow all the vocal competitions, especially as barihunks keep sweeping away all the tenors, sopranos and mezzos. We'll be closely monitoring the Montreal International Musical Competition this Tuesday and Wednesday as three of the eight finalist are not only barihunks, but some of our favorite singers around.

Sly was named our "Best Newcomer" along with Dominik Köninger in our "Best of 2011" feature. We still play his rendition of Schubert's Der Erlkönig to anyone who will listen. Sly was the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and left the Merola Opera program a year early to join the Canadian Opera Company. 


Brancy has won or come in second in a number of competitions and has already worked with the aforementioned Steven Blier. A recent graduate of Julliard, Brancy recently studied at the International Meistersinger Akademie with sopranos Edith Wiens and Ann Murray, as well as pianist Malcolm Martineau.


Like Sly, Sidney Outlaw is another product of the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. While in San Francisco he gave a recital that included Schubert's rarely heard Il traditor deluso, which still has lieder aficionados buzzing. On stage he stole the show with his performance of Dr. Dulcamara  in L’elisir d’amore.


Brancy and Outlaw will be representing the United States, while Sly is representing Canada in the competition. Both performances will be broadcast at 7:30 PM on Radio Canada. Click here to listen to the broadcasts. You can listen to the preliminaries here. 

Barihunk Stuff You Don't Want to Miss

Jonathan Estabrooks

Our favorite vlogger Jonathan Estabrooks keeps a busy schedule. This Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. he'll be part of a concert that includes Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone and a collection of opera arias and duets with soprano Emily Duncan-Brown. The concert is at the SWCC King Community Center in Richlands, Virginia and includes selections from Verdi, Puccini and Rossini.

Christopher Dylan Herbert in Central City

Just a reminder that you can hear Christopher Dylan Herbert live on WWFM singing Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata 56 "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen." The concert is free, so if you're in New York go check out this talented member of New York Polyphony. The concert will performed on Monday, April 16 at 1pm EST at St. Paul's Chapel near Ground Zero. Broadcast time is 10 AM for those on the West Coast.

Herbert's ensemble New York Polyphony is currently performing on the East Coast as part of the Five Boroughs Music Festival's Gabrieli @ 400 and these concerts are not to be missed. On April 27 they perform at St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn, on April 28 they are at St. Ignatius of Antioch in New York City and then on April 29 they perform at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Quirijn de Lang sings Hugo Wolf

One of the most popular singers on this site is Dutch barihunk Quirijn de Lang, who appears to have quite an international fan club. He's just released a CD of songs by Hugo Wolf based on work by Ibsen & other poets. He is joined by soprano Mary Bevan and accompanist Sholto Kynoch. For lovers of Wolf lieder, the recording includes twelve previously unrecorded songs.  You can purchase the CD at Stone Records. 

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Barihunk Chart Topper; Great Gatsby in SF; Andrew Garland for Valentine's Day: Meikle Takes Marcello to Italy

David McFerrin (Top L), David Adam Moore (Bottom L) & Jesse Blumberg (R)

A little over two weeks ago we mentioned the CD release party and concert for the Five Borough Music Festival's songbook of works by twenty composers. Each song was inspired by places, themes, and poetry from every corner of New York City. We're thrilled to announce that the CD has shot up the Classical Billboard charts to #12 ahead of the Metropolitan Opera and Sir Paul McCartney. Barihunks David Adam Moore, Jesse Blumberg and David McFerrin are all featured on the CD.

Composers include Lisa Bielawa, Tom Cipullo, Mohammed Fairouz, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daron Hagen, Gabriel Kahane, Jorge Martin, Russell Platt, Matt Schickele and more. Click HERE to buy your copy today.

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved!

Jason Detwiler & Susannah Biller (photo by Steve DiBartolomeo)

Last February, we featured Ensemble Parallèle’s production of Philip Glass' "Orphée" with barihunks Eugene Brancoveanu and Austin Kness. The innovative young company is back with another barihunk, Jason Detwiler, in their production of John Harbison’s "The Great Gatsby." The soprano is Susannah Biller Kness who, you guessed it, is married to barihunk Austin Kness.

The Great Gatsby will run from February 10-12 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco.  Jason Detwiler is performing the role of Nick Carraway.  Visit the Ensemble Parallèle website for additional cast and performance information.   

Andrew Garland: Our Favorite Valentine

Back in July we mentioned the New York Festival Of Song's upcoming season and we've been following each concert throughout the season. We're particularly excited  about the February 14th concert for Valentine's Day entitled "A MODERN PERSON’S GUIDE TO HOOKING UP AND BREAKING UP." The concert will examine the full range of modern love with affection and humor through songs of Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, The Bobs, Noël Coward, Jason Robert Brown, Ed Kleban, and others. Subjects range from voyeurism, S&M, and ménages à trois, to good old-fashioned heart-to-heart love. The concert also repeats on February 16 at 8:00PM at Merkin Concert Hall.

Most importantly, the concert includes our favorite Valentine's Day barihunk, Andrew Garland.  Click HERE to spent your Valentine's Day with the hottest redhead in opera.

Laurence Meikle

Laurence Meikle debuts as Marcello in Puccini’s "La Boheme" tonight at the Teatro Guiditta Pasta in Saronno, Italy. There will be an additional performance at the Teatro dell’Opera di Milano in Varese on February 4th.

Regular readers might remember Meikle from our "Hottest Aussie Barihunks" or our feature on his performance of Marcello at a Soho restaurant in London.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

New Yorkers, Don't Miss This: Five Borough Songbook Concert and CD Release on Thursday

Don't miss the Five Borough Songbook concert and CD release party

We've been covering the Five Boroughs Music Festival as it has moved around New York, but the January 12th concert in Manhattan promises to be extra special. In addition to the concert they wil be releasing their first recording that day, a stunning 2-disc set of the Songbook. We've had the privilege of previewing the recording and it is a must for any lover of art songs or opera.

We can't think of a better evening out than hearing a concert and then heading home with a CD of the all the great music that you just heard. The Songbook is a collection of newly commissioned vocal works by many of the leading composers working today. It celebrates New York City through its history, poetry, and geography. Some of the titles will certainly evoke distinct images or memories to New Yorkers past and present. They include "F From Dumbo," "G Is For Grimy: An Ode To The G Train," and "Coney Island Avenue."

Barihunk David McFerrin will sing Martin Hennessy's "The City's Love"

Did you ever wish that you could have spoken to Bach, Schubert, Verdi or Puccini? Unless you're Shirley MacLaine, you missed your chance. But you'll have a chance to talk to many of the composers on the program on Thursday night, as quite a few of them have agreed to appear for a "Composer Chat" beginning an hour before the 7:30 PM concert.


The concert will be at Engleman Recital Hall at the Baruch Performing Arts Center 55 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. Click HERE for tickets or HERE to purchase a CD.

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Boston Early Music Festival Serves Up Tall Order of Barihunks

Barihunks Michael Kelly & Douglas Williams (L); Douglas Williams behind tenor Aaron Sheehan (R) - 
photos by Kathy Wittman

If you like your barihunks like your redwood trees, which is tall and awe-inspiring, then head to the Boston Early Music Festival. The group is performing Charpentier's glorious Orphée with three statuesque barihunks, Michael Kelly at 6'2", Douglas Williams at 6'4" and Olivier Laquerre at 6'7". [By the way, we featured two post on who might be the world's tallest barihunk, which you can read HERE and HERE].

The opera tells the famous story of Orphée who decends into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice using his musical charms. La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts a musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV as shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria.  

There will be two performances of the opera at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston on Saturday evening, November 26th and Sunday afternoon, November 27th. The Boston Early Music Festival not only features singers who are easy on the eyes, but they produce some of the most wonderful baroque opera to listen to in the world. You can click HERE to watch one of our favorite singers, Jesse Blumberg, perform Polifierno in Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe.



Douglas Williams is also part of our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. He's our July feature of "All-American Boys" along with Jonathan Boehr and Christopher Temporelli. You won't want to miss it! Shopping season is officially kicking off tomorrow so order your calendar today by clicking HERE. Please remember that all proceeds are going to benefit young artist programs.

Michael Kelly was supposed to be part of the calendar, but a reprinting error inadvertently left him out. We promise to feature plenty of this gifted young singer in 2012!. You can watch Kelly's recital from the Trinity Wall Street Church, which we featured earlier this year, by clicking HERE.

If you know of a barihunk singing in Handel's Messiah this year, please email us the information at Barihunks@gmail.com.

NY Festival of Song's "Manning the Canon" in New York City and Maryland

Tim McDevitt

If you missed Steven Blier's insightful and entertaining "Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life" last year, you're in luck because they are reprising the show in Maryland and New York City. The first performance will be at the Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland in College Park on November 15th. On November 17, the show returns to Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. The show includes two barihunks who have appeared regularly on this site, Tim McDevitt and fan favorite Jesse Blumberg (whose posts often shows up in our top ten site visits). Not only are these guys eye candy, but they are amazing singers and worth hearing. They will be joined by Scott Murphree and Matt Boehler.

Jesse Blumberg

The program includes a number of songs that might be familiar to you, as well as some that you'll want to experience. They include Marc Blitzstein’s “Purest Kind of a Guy," Christopher Berg’s "Is It Dirty?," Lutvak and Campbell's "Exit Right," Schubert's quartet for four male voices “Auflösung," Tchaikovsky’s “At the Ball," Poulenc’s “Montparnasse," Griffes’s “Evening Song,” John Wallowich’s  “Bruce.” Bolcom’s “Piano Walk” and “I’ll Be By,” Camille Saint Saëns’s “Si vous n’avez rien à me dire,”  Benjamin Britten’s “Night covers up the rigid land,” Manuel de Falla’s “Polo," Cy Coleman's "Tennis Duet,"  Chris DeBlasio’s “Walt Whitman in 1989,”Bernstein's “To What You Said,” and Cole Porter's "You're the Top."



Don't be fooled by the title, as this show isn't just for gay audiences. Like all of Steven Blier's shows they are an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of a canon of work. Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times: "Such programs can easily fall into the trap of social politics and turn maudin, agenda driven and campy. This one was insightful and imaginative, touching and funny."

For tickets to either show, please visit the New York Festival of Song website.

Jesse Blumberg and Martin Katz working on Schubert last year:



We also want to remind fans of Jesse Blumberg on the West Coast that he will be performing Handel's "Messiah" with the American Bach Soloists on December 15, 16 and 18.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Don't forget to order your 2012 Barihunks calendar. Click HERE to order. All proceeds go to support young artists and young artist programs. It's a great gift and an easy way to support our next generation of baritones. You can read more about our calendar at this previous post.

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Jesse Blumberg to Sing Finzi in NYC; Handel's Messiah in SF

Jesse Blumberg

At Barihunks we like to expose readers to music that they may not be familiar with. So we were thrilled when we saw that Jesse Blumberg was singing Gerald Finzi's "Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun" at the St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The piece is based on a deeply moving setting of Shakespeare’s verse from Cymbeline (Act IV, Scene 2) and isn't performed nearly enough.

Bryn Terfel singing Finzi's "Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun"



Also on the November 10th program is "Dona nobis pacem" and "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus" by Finzi's friend and contemporary Ralph Vaughan Williams. Visit the St. Thomas website for additional information.

Jesse Blumberg will appear at Grace Cathedral with ABS

If you're on the opposite coast, you can hear Jesse Blumberg with the American Bach Soloists in San Francisco. He will be performing Handel's "Messiah" on December 15 and 16 at San Francisco's magnificent Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill and at the Mondavi Center in Sacramento on December 18.




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Christopher Johnstone's Sexy New Website: Five Boroughs Music Festival Reminder

Christopher Johnstone: Singer, Actor, Model (and hot!)

We get a lot of messages asking us to look at someone's new website, but we've seldom encountered one as sexy as barihunk Christopher Johnstone's new site.

The graduate of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music defines himself as a "Singer, Actor, Model" on his website and he's certainly hard to peg. The lyric baritone has sung with the Glimmerglass Opera, Lyric Opera San Diego, Opera Pacific, Cincinnati Pops, Boston Pops and performing Poulenc’s Le bal masqué for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra with Maestro James Levine of the Metropolitan Opera.

As you can see from the video he's also crossed over into musicals. But like many singers who we've featured on this site, including Hadleigh Adams and Matt Morris, their careers have also reached into television and even modeling. Johnstone has been seen on TLC’s “Personal Justice” and he has a recurring roles on “All My Children.”  If you visit his website, you can also see more examples of his modeling for David Barton Gym and DETAILS magazine.



We also want to remind readers that the Five Boroughs Music Festival is kicking off its season on Thursday, October 6th with barihunk David Adam Moore, so make sure to order your tickets. Barihunk and artistic director Jesse Blumberg has commissioned twenty songs with themes related to Gotham  from twenty of the world's leading contemporary composers. The festival première is at the Galapagos Art Space and tickets can be purchased on their website. 

Five Boroughs Music Festival kicks off in Brooklyn with David Adam Moore

We're particularly excited about Glen Roven's "F from DUMBO," since many attendees may be taking the F TO DUMBO to the recital. The clever new song will be sung by David Adam Moore, making it all the more irresistible. You can sample Roven's music in the sidebar to the right with barihunk Randal Turner singing "When you are old."

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Five Borough Songbook to Kick Off Festival; Wigmore Competition Underway

Festival founder Jesse Blumberg (L) & David Adam Moore (R)

We are huge fans of barihunk Jesse Blumberg, not just for his glorious singing and good looks, but as an impressario. Blumberg is the founder of the Five Boroughs Music Festival which is bringing interesting and entertaining music to all five boroughs in New York City.

The Festival's new season will kick off with the "Five Borough Songbook" featuring another one of our favorites, barihunk David Adam Moore, who will be joined by tenor Alex Richardson, soprano Martha Guth and mezzo Blythe Gaissart. They will be performing new songs from some of the best composers in the world today. Readers of this site will know that we're huge proponents of (good) new music and this performance promises and abundance of great music. Many of the composers have had their music prominently featured on this site, including Glen Roven, Jorge Martin, Ricky Ian Gordon and Daron Hagen.

The 20 songs will be premiered at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn on October 6, 2011. Click HERE for tickets and performance information.

Michael Kelly (L), Duncan Rock (Both C) & Dominik Koeninger (R)

Fans of Jesse Blumberg will be thrilled to learn that he is currently at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition in London, England. The competition is dedicated to the art of lied and requires singers to perform in at least three languages. Blumberg will be performing with accompanist Jonathan Ware on September 5 and tickets can be purchased HERE. Other barihunks in this year's competition include Michael Kelly (whose entire recital we recently featured online), Andrew Ashwin, Duncan Rock, Jonathan McGovern and Dominik Koeninger.

For the next two weeks we will be accepting submissions for our first Barihunks charity calendar, which will benefit young artist programs. Send High Res photos and a brief bio to Barihunks@gmail.com

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New York Festival of Song's Barihunk-filled New Season

Steven Blier's always entertaining and interesting New York Festival of Song has announced its 2011-12 five-program series at Merkin Concert Hall. As always, the Festival of Song will be programmed with some of the best young talent in opera and once again there will be plenty of barihunks to enjoy.

Andrew Garland

The season opens on Oct. 25 and 27 with In the Memory Palace: Games of Love featuring barihunk Andrew Garland, who will be joined by Michelle Areyzaga, Rebecca Jo Loeb and Paul Appleby. The program centers around the premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s song cycle, The Memory Palace, which evokes scenes of East Coast solitude with his haunting music and mordant lyrics.

Jesse Blumberg & Timothy McDevitt

On Novemeber 17th, the festival will reprise Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life with barihunks Jesse Blumberg and Timothy McDevitt, joined by Scott Murphee and Matt Boehler.  The program is a "touching celebration of the lives and art of gay men in works that reflect the heritage of gay composers in art song, as well as contemporary songs about the gay experience."

Joahua Jeremiah & John Brancy

On November 29 and December 1 the Festival will feature barihunks John Brancy and Joshua Jeremiah joined by Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, Josh Breitzer for  A Goyishe Christmas to You! Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters.

Jesse Blumberg

On February 14 and 16th, Jesse Blumberg returns for A Modern Person's Guide to Hooking Up and Breaking Up along with Anne-Carolyn Bird, Liza Forrester, Alex Mansoori and Jesse Blumberg.  The show is described as a “quirky survey of the awkwardness, pain, lust and perversity of contemporary relationships."

The season concludes on March 11th with New York to Paris, Paris to Paradise featuring members of Caramoor’s 2012 Vocal Rising Stars program.

You can click HERE for tickets and additional program information.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GLEN ROVEN ! ! !

Award-winning composer Glen Roven

One of our favorite composers in the world today is Glen Roven and we'd like to wish him a rousing HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! ! !

Glen Roven is an Emmy Award-winning composer, lyricist, and conductor. One of his notable compositions include a violin concerto based on the children’s book The Runaway Bunny. Another notable composition is “Goodnight Moon, An Aria for Singer and Orchestra” which Lauren Flanigan performed in Central Park May 9, 2010 for an audience of 10,000. It was subsequently performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Kimmel Center. He is the Artist Director of “GPR Records” where he conceived and produced “Poetic License 100 Poems/100 Performers” where artists such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Patti LuPone, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, etc. perform their favorite poem. The CD has become the best selling Poetry CD of all time. “Pandora’s Box”, for which he wrote music and lyrics, will be performed at the NYMF Festival October 8 starring Kerry Butler and Deidre Goodwin.

Here is Randal Turner singing two Glen Roven songs from the set "Four Melancholy Songs, Opus 16, No. 1" based on poetry by William Butler Yeats. The perforfance is from Turner's live concert in San Francisco last year. 

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree"



"When you are old"



Also, we'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to another barihunk, Jesse Blumberg, who can scroll down and listen to.

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Jesse Blumberg video from Boston Early Music Festival

Jesse Blumberg as Polifierno

Video has finally surfaced of Jesse Blumberg's performance as Polifierno in Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe. The opera recounts a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses about the Queen of Thebes whose pride earns her family the vengeance of the gods. Here he is with the wonderful countertenor Matthew White singing the role of Creonte.



Blumberg's next performance will be on July 16th at the Midsummer Fundraising Event for the Five Boroughs Music Festival, which the New York-based singer founded. For more information visit the festival website. Or click HERE to purchase tickets.

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Jesse Blumberg in North American Premiere at Boston Early Music Festival

Jesse Blumerg & Amanda Forsythe

While we're on the subject of our favorite singers, we should mention that Jesse Blumberg is appearing as Polifierno in the first fully staged performance of Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe  in North America. The opera recounts a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses about the Queen of Thebes whose pride earns her family the vengeance of the gods.

Blumberg joins an amazing cast that includes the soprano Amanda Forsythe as Niobe and the brilliant countertenors Philippe Jaroussky as Anfione and Matthew White as Creonte.

Jesse Blumberg rehearsing Polifierno

There are still five performances remaining in Boston and Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information. If you're within a 100 miles of Boston, you should make sure to catch this performance.

Our favorite picture of Jesse Blumberg

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Lee Poulis in Wuthering Heights; Blumberg on a Barge

Lee Poulis as Heathcliff, carrying the bones of his beloved Catherine (Photo Tom Wallace Star-Tribune)

The Minnesota Opera is presenting Academy Award-winning composer Bernard Herrmann's opera Wuthering Heights, which is based on Emily Brontë's gothic romance novel. The opera opens on Saturday, April 16 and runs through April 23. The production stars Lee Poulis, who we last saw in this cute little outfit from Bonn, where he was starring in The Elixir of Love.

Lee Poulis in a happier role

This production of Wuthering Heights celebrates the centennial of the composer's birth and is the first major revival of this forgotten masterpiece since it was written in Minneapolis in 1951. Click HERE to read Graydon Royce's article about the opera from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Poulis & Blumberg in Wuthering Heights

The production also happens to be a barihunk lovers delight, as it features two other regulars from this site. Ben Wager, who has been honing his skills in Germany, returns to sing the role of Hindley Earnshaw. Jesse Blumberg, a longtime favorite on this site, plays the neighbor Mr. Lockwood.

New York-based Jesse Blumberg

Fans of Blumberg who can't make the Minnesota performance can see him in New York as part of Bargemusic, a floating concert hall in Brooklyn. Blumberg will be performing Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin on Thursday, April 28 followed by Winterreise on Saturday, April 30. Call (718) 624-2083 for reservations. He will be accompanied by the great Martin Katz. If you're in the New York area this is a performance that you won't want to miss!


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