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The American bass-baritone, Christopher Besch, studied at Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, Minnesota. He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance Music Theory/Composition from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (Class of 2009); and his Master of Music degree in Music Performance · the voice from Rice University in Houston, Texas; and his He is in his second year of studies for the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at Rice University, where he is the Malcolm W. Perkins Teaching Fellow. He was a semi-finalist for the 2012 Eleanor McCollum Competition at the Houston Grand Opera, one of the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast Regional Finalists for the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, and placed in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition, and was awarded the Harold Norblum Award through Opera Colorado.
Described as embodying a “commanding stage presence” (DC Theatre Scene), as well as “sweet and earnest” (Houston Chronicle), Christopher Besch is enjoying a diverse career in opera, concert, and recital. Proud to have performed in nine countries on three continents, he has sung under the batons of such distinguished conductors as Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, and Jeffrey Thomas.
On the opera stage, Christopher Besch has been lauded for his “lively stage presence” (Houston Press). In the 2011-2012 season as a Young Artist with Opera Colorado, he sang Sam in Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, as well as Figaro in a matinee performance. In the summer of 2012 at the Castleton Festival he sang Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Zuniga in Georges Bizet's Carmen with Maestro Lorin Maazel at the helm, as well as Fredrik in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music with Levi Hammer. The 2012-2013 season saw him as Peter Quince in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Opera Naples, Noye in Noye’s Fludde with Opera Theatre of Weston, and the customs officer in Puccini’s La bohème at The Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman. In recent seasons, he has been seen as Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Rice University, with The American Bach Soloists Academy (Director: Jeffrey Thomas), the Jailer in Tosca with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin, as well as Gregory Spears’ new opera based on the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, O Columbia. He has also performed Rocco in L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio with Maestro Viswa Subbaraman at the Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Archibald Craven in Nolan Gasser's operatic treatment of The Secret Garden. He has appeared as Ashby in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West in concert with Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia in A Coruña, Spain conducted by Maestro Lorin Maazel. The opera was also fully staged and presented at the Castleton Festival in Virginia. 2016 heard him in performances in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with Opera in the Heights, to which he “gave stentorian voice to Alidoro’s pronouncements.” (Opera), He also created the role of Peter Gray in Wings They Were: The Case of Emeline with Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco, and portrayed Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Rice University. He will perform Nourabad in Georges Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles with Opera in the Heights this coming February.
As a concert soloist, Christopher Besch appeared in the 2017 Bachfest Leipzig as a member of Bach Society Houston (Director: Rick Erickson), the first professional American choir to be honored with an invitation to the festival. He has previously sung Mars in G.F. Handel's Parnasso in festa and Jupiter in Marais’ Sémélé in their American premieres with The American Bach Soloists Academy, J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and W.A. Mozart's Requiem with the Louisville Chorale Arts Society, and as a resident bass soloist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London with St. Martin’s Episcopal Church Choir, as well as frequent engagements as a bass soloist with Bach Society Houston. He is scheduled to sing George Frideric Handel's Messiah with Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, J.S. Bach's St. John Passion (BWV 245) with Bach Society Houston, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.
In addition to his teaching post at Rice University, Christopher Besch also serves as Adjunct Faculty at Lone Star College, Kingwood (since 2016) and teaches private voice. |
