Potential Barihunks in Met Opera Midwest Regional Auditions in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The field is set for the Midwest Regional Auditions in Tulsa, Oklahoma for Saturday, February 11th. There will be eleven singers competing, including three mezzos, five tenors and three baritones, who we think might have some barihunk potential.

Adam Hendrickson

Adam Lance Hendrickson began his vocal studies under the direction of Japanese-American soprano, Yoko Shimazaki-Kilburn at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.  After performing in many operas including Die Zauberflöte, Madama Butterfly, and Giulio Cesare in Egitto, he starred in the title role of Don Giovanni in Ball State Opera Theatre’s 2009 production.  He graduated with a B.M. in Vocal Performance in May of 2009.  In the fall of 2009, Adam began his graduate studies at Northwestern University.  He was the recipient of the Bienen School of Music’s Eckstein Scholarship which granted him a full-tuition scholarship.  Adam began studying voice with Bruce Hall, who remains his voice teacher to this very day.

Hendrickson performing Mozart in 2009:

Operatic credits at Northwestern include: Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Papageno in The Magic Flute, and Frank Maurrant in Street Scene.  Adam was also the featured baritone soloist in the 2011, Northwestern Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the Brahms Requiem under the baton of Robert Harris.

Hendrickson is currently under contract with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Chicago Opera Theatre.

Chris Carr

Chris Carr is a 2011-2012 apprentice artist with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. He graduated from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa where he performed in the Marriage of Figaro. Simpson  is currently a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he has performed in Don Giovanni. 

Carr performing Korngold's Tanzlied:

He has also performed in Tosca and  Cosi fan tutte with the Cedar Rapids Opera, as well as in La boheme, Les Mamelles de Tirésias with the Des Moines Metro Opera.
 

Alex DeSocio, Baritone

Wichita native Alex DeSocio received his BM in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University in 2010. DeSocio was a former division 1 college football prospect until a severe injury ruined his chances of a college career.

During his undergraduate program, he performed the roles of Assan/The Consul, Antonio/The Marriage of Figaro and Figaro/The Ghosts of Versailles. DeSocio attended the Aspen Music Festival in summer 2009. Last January, he performed the role of Silvio in the In Series Theater’s production of I Pagliacci by Leoncavallo. Over the summer, DeSocio performed the role of L’horloge comtoise/L’enfant et les sortilèges (Castleton Festival) under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel. DeSocio is a student of Dominic Cossa. This spring, DeSocio will sing Pip/Miss Havisham’s Fire and Man with a Shoe Sample Kit/Postcard from Morocco.

WE WISH ALL THREE THE BEST OF LUCK!!!

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Three Barihunks Advance at Metropolitan Opera Auditions in Wisconsin

Darik Knutsen (Top), Joseph Beutel (r), Anthony Reed (l)

 
Three barihunks were among the five singers selected by judges to advance to the next round at Saturday's Wisconsin District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Bass-baritone Joseph Beutel,  bass Anthony Reed and baritone Darik Knutsen will join mezzo-soprano Kathryn Leemhuis and soprano Alisa Jordheim in the next round of competition. Anthony Reed was also chosen to perform a Florentine Opera recital.

The five will next compete at the Upper Midwest Regional in St. Paul, Minnesota on February 4, 2012.

Joseph Beutel

Joseph Beutel is an emerging bass-baritone originally from Indiana.  For the Minnesota Opera this season, he will appear as the British Major in Silent Night, Le Bailli in Werther, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and the Bonze in Madame Butterfly, and covering the role of Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.  He has joined the Minnesota Opera’s Resident Artist program after spending the summer as a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist, where he covered the role of Méphistophélès in Faust and the Catholic Priest in The Last Savage. Previous roles have also included the Impresario/Direttore in the young artist production of Viva La Mamma! at Seattle Opera; Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Mustafà in L’italiana in Algeri, Simone in Gianni Schicchi, and Herr Reich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor for IU Opera Theatre and the Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance

Darik Knutsen

Darik Knutsen, baritone from McLean, VA is excited to make his Kennedy Center debut with Evelyn Lear's Wagner Society, as well as his Madison Opera debut in Phillip Glass's Galileo Galilei this season. He also looks forward to recitals with the American Opera Society of Chicago and with the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Wilmette Chapter. The past two summers Knutsen was an Apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera where he sang the role of Wagner in Faust (2011) and Schlemil in The Tales of Hoffmann (2010).       

Here is Darik Knutsen rehearsing with Mark S. Doss, who was Mephistopheles in the Santa Fe Opera's production of Faust last season:

Knutsen has also worked with the Chicago Opera Theater for the past two seasons where he sang the role of Arcas in Charpentier's Médée (2011), and understudied the role of Charlie in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers (2010). Other operatic experience includes the title role of Eugene Onegin at the Chautauqua Institute of Music, as well as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and Peachum in The Threepenny Opera at Northwestern University. Knutsen is the recipient of numerous awards including 2nd Place Winner in the Central Region Finals of the Metropolitan Council Auditions (2010), Winner of the American Opera Society Scholarship (2011), and 1st Place in the Bel Canto Foundation of Chicago (2011). Mr. Knutsen is a current voice student of Marlena Malas.

Anthony Reed

Bass Anthony Reed hails from Alexandria, Minnesota, attended the University of Wisconsin at Eau-Claire and was part of the 2011 Seagle Music Colony.

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