Brian
Leerhuber, baritone, is a
graduate of UCLA, Summa cum Laude, where he performed the roles of Papageno, Testo in Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and
Riccardo in a concert version of I puritani, conducted by Placido
Domingo.
He is a winner of a 2003 Sullivan Foundation Award. As a former
member of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, he made his Lyric
Opera of Chicago debut as the Novice's Friend in Billy Budd. He
has sung Papageno in Die Zauberflvte, the Marchese in La
traviata and Silvano in Un ballo in maschero, and Sharpless
in Madama Butterfly.
Mr. Leerhuber was a Young Artist in
Residence with the Juilliard Opera Center, where he performed in
productions of The Rape of Lucretia as Tarquinius and Gluck's
Armide as Hidraot. As principal baritone for Opera San Josi for two
seasons, he sang the roles of Don Giovanni, Papageno, Danilo, Mercutio,
Nick Shadow, Enrico in Lucia, Slim Of Mice and Men and Il
Poeta in Il turco in Italia.
He has also appeared with Festival
Opera of Walnut Creek to great critical acclaim as Schaunard and the
Figaro of both Mozart and Rossini. At the Music Academy of the West,
Mr. Leerhuber participated in the 1996 and 1997 summer festivals,
singing in Rossini's Il viaggio ` Reims as Don Alvaro and Le
nozze di Figaro as Il Conte. He has also appeared with the Santa Fe
Opera, Eugene Opera, Rimrock Opera, Rogue Opera, Monterey Symphony,
Northwest Indiana Symphony, San Francisco Concert Chorale, Racine
Symphony, Opera Buffs and the Berkeley Opera, singing the role of Eumee
in the West Coast premiere of Fauri's Penelope.
Mr. Leerhuber
makes his European operatic debut in France at the Lyrique en Mer
festival as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and Schaunard.
An
accomplished recitalist, Mr. Leerhuber has performed for the Marilyn
Horne Foundation at Lincoln Center, as well as a solo recital at the
Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City, and Foundation-sponsored
recitals in Tyler, Texas and Carmel, California. Other recital credits
include the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Alice Tully Hall, the Bank
of Brazil Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro, Ravinia, University of
Illinois at Chicago, Appalachian Music Festival, Cleveland Art Song
Festival, Hidden Valley Music Seminars, several Sundays At Four concerts
from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (broadcast live over KUSC
Radio), and a staged version of Wolf's Italianisches Liederbuch,
directed by Frank Corsaro.
