BIOGRAPHY
Christopher Burchett’s rich, no-holds-barred voice and committed stagecraft have earned him a place on the stages of opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe including New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Estates Theatre in Prague, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, BBC Orchestra at the Barbican Centre, Glimmerglass Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, Prototype Festival, The Holland Festival, Palm Beach Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Saratoga, Eugene Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera and Opera Orchestra of New York. Christopher has performed one hundred and one operatic roles to date and has been described by Opera News as a “fearlessly vulnerable” performer “who gave an unflinchingly, heroically human performance that will linger long in the memory.”
In 2018 he made his Chicago Opera Theater debut as John Cree in Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's opera Elizabeth Cree followed by return engagements with Boston Lyric Opera singing the role of Mac the Knife in their production of "The Threepenny Opera" and as the soldier in David T. Little's Soldier Songs with Beth Morrison Projects and Fargo-Moorhead Opera. That fall he sang Sam in Trouble in Tahiti with both the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Lyric Opera of the North as well as a 50th anniversary gala concert with Fargo-Moorhead Opera.
2019-2020 included performances of Second Elder in Handel’s Susannah and Cosimo in the world premiere of Laura Schwendinger’s opera Artemisia both with the Time’s Arrow Festival in New York. In the summer he sang the role of Director in Michael Gordon's Acquanetta with the Bard Summerscape Festival and Beth Morrison Projects. Other performances that season included Handel’s Messiah with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Bach's B Minor Mass in a return engagement with The Bel Canto Chorus.
Last year Christopher joined the voice faculty of the Bay View Music Festival and in addition, sang Germont in their production of La Traviata. He also returned to the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra for their production of the Messiah.
A champion of new music, Christopher has created roles in 14 world premieres to date. Some of those roles include the title role in Paola Prestini and Cerise Jacobs’ Gilgamesh with Beth Morrison Projects and Friends of Madam White Snake, M. Carré-Lamadon in Stephen Hartke's "The Greater Good" with Glimmerglass Opera, Baritone Soloist in Paul Moravec's "Blizzard Voices", Jack Absolute in Kirke Mechem’s "The Rivals" with Skylight Opera Theatre, Soldier in Paola Prestini’s Oceanic Verses at The Kennedy Center, Victor in Jeff Meyer’s "Buried Alive" with Fort Worth Opera and Fargo Moorhead Opera and Orsen in Edwin Penhorwood’s "Too Many Sopranos" with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre.
He has also participated in the revival of several 20th and 21st century works, some of which include Blazes in Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse with Boston Lyric Opera, Father Palmer in Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Silent Night with Fort Worth Opera, Restless Mourning by Anthony Davis with Opera Omaha and Palivec and General von Schwarzburg in Robert Kurka’s The Good Soldier Schweik with Glimmerglass Opera.
Widely sought after for his concert work, Christopher has appeared with many of the country’s finest Bach festivals including the Carmel Bach Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, Louisville Bach Society and Bethlehem Bach Festival where he sang Bach’s B Minor Mass as part of an Emmy winning national PBS broadcast entitled “Make a Joyful Noise”. Other concert highlights include The Parable of the Law with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten’s War Requiem with both the Louisville Orchestra and Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, Handel's "Messiah" with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, "Elijah" with Omaha Symphony, Sandro in American Symphony Orchestra's concert production of "Mona Lisa" at Carnegie Hall, Vaughan Williams’ "A Sea Symphony" with Princeton Pro Musica, Vaughn Williams’ "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s "Ninth Symphony" with the New Hampshire Music Festival, Mozart's "C Minor Mass" with Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall, and "So in Love With Broadway", a concert of musical standards and selections of hits from the music of Frank Loesser with the Omaha Symphony.
Christopher can be heard on the Naxos record label in Stephen Hartke’s "The Greater Good", Julian Wachner’s "Come My Dark Eyed One", Mohammed Fairouz’s "No Orpheus" and the title role of Bernard Rands’ opera "Vincent". Other recordings available include Arnold Rosner's The Parable of the Law recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on the Toccata Classics label as well as the first complete recording of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock on Bridge Records, Paola Prestini's Oceanic Verses on the VIA label, David Lang’s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field on the Cantaloupe label and Joseph Summer’s The Tempest on Albany Records. He can also currently be heard on the I-tunes label as part of the "Opera America Songbook", a recorded collection of 47 songs commissioned by Opera America to celebrate the opening of the National Opera Center.
MEDIA
"Omnia sol temperat"
Carmina Burana
Orff
"Annabel Lee"
No Orpheus - Songs
Mohammed Fairouz
"Still life with tank & iPod"
Soldier Songs
David T. Little
"Leaflets"
The Cradle Will Rock
Marc Blitzstein
PHOTOS
REVIEWS
OPERA NEWS | SOLDIER SONGS | PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL
“In the end, however, the evening belonged to Burchett, who gave an unflinchingly, heroically human performance that will linger long in the memory."
THE NEW YORK TIMES | SOLDIER SONGS | PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL
“As the Soldier, the sole vocalist apart from isolated shouts from the instrumentalists, Christopher Burchett marched, paced and caromed around the set, producing a robust baritone, a childish falsetto and a power-mad bark by turns. As a stage presence he was fearless; stripped to his underwear for a scene of rabid battle preparation, he evoked superheroic posturing and vulnerability simultaneously.”
VIRGINIAN-PILOT | DIE FLEDERMAUS | VIRGINIA OPERA
“As Dr. Falke, who maneuvers the plot as he manipulates its players, baritone Christopher Burchett sang with a pleasing and powerful sound.”
OPERA NEWS
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OPERA NEWS | NIXON IN CHINA | EUGENE OPERA
“Christopher Burchett projected a distinctive baritone and saint-like humility as Chou En-lai.”
THE BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW | THE LIGHTHOUSE | BOSTON LYRIC OPERA
“Christopher Burchett brought a warm and malleable baritone to his character Blazes, as well as convincing physicality, twitching and strutting in accordance to the schizophrenic demands of the music.”
OPERA NEWS | THE LIGHTHOUSE | BOSTON LYRIC OPERA
“Baritone Christopher Burchett was perfectly matched, both musically and dramatically.”
EXPRESSMILWAUKEE.COM | THE RIVALS | SKYLIGHT OPERA THEATER
“In the male lead, Christopher Burchett has the poise of a great comic actor with a flair for the kind of subtlety and intricacy that makes even the most ploddingly obvious bits of comedy feel fresh and interesting.”