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The Canadian baritone, Joshua Hopkins, sang at 16 his in his first oratorio, Haydn's Creation. After studies at McGill University in Montreal, where he received his master's degree in 2003, he was accepted into the Houston Grand Opera studio; a particular highlight of his studio years was singing the Pilot in HGO's 2004 revival of Rachel Portman's The Little Prince, an experience he calls "a fantastic milestone."
The baritone, Joshua Hopkins, has won prizes in several important competitons: in September 2002, José Carreras presented him with the first place prize in the Julián Gayarre International Singing Competition; he was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2003 National Council Auditions; in 2005 he was a prize winner in the 2005 Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition held in Madrid; in September 2006, he was the second-place winner in the category Voice (Opera) in the ARD Musikwettbewerb in Munich - Germany’s premier international competition; he is winner of the 2006 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the Verbier Festival Academy’s 2008 Prix d’Honneur. He is also the recipient of prizes from the George London Foundation, the Sylva Gelber Foundation Award of the Canada Council for the Arts, and from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation.
Joshua Hopkins has been hailed as “…an outstanding young baritone with a virile, vigorous yet velvety sound and an immediately evident dramatic authority.” Opera highlights of past seasons include performances of Marcello in La bohème at the Houston Grand Opera, where he also covered the title role of Billy Budd, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at Arizona Opera and at Santa Fe Opera, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at Madison Opera, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Pacific, Valentin in Faust with Calgary Opera, and Junius in a new Paul Curran production of The Rape of Lucretia with the Central City Opera. Completing his formal training as a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio in the spring of 2005, performances with the company included the role of The Pilot in The Little Prince and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.
Joshua Hopkins has appeared in concert with the symphonies of Baltimore, Edmonton, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Montreal, and Quebec and with L’Orchestre Métropolitain, Les Violons du Roy, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. He has performed an extensive range of J.S. Bach’s works, including his Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248), Magnificat (BWV 243), Mass in B Minor (BWV 232), St. John Passion (BWV 245) and St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244). He also has been featured in Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. He made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy in performances of Peer Gynt, and sang J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) and G.F. Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy, as well as Messiah with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Trevor Pinnock. Additional highlights of his concert schedule have included Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Hans Graf and the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Die Zauberflöte with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Labadie, J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) with Bernard Labadie and Ensemble Arion, and Messiah with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Profoundly committed to the art of song, Joshua Hopkins made his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in January 2004, that was made possible by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. He has recorded three recitals with CBC Radio’s Jeunes Artistes program, performed Schubert’s Die Winterreise in Montreal and in Burlington, Vermont, for which he was awarded an FCAR Master’s Research Grant, and he was joined by pianist Graham Johnson for a series of recitals surveying the repertoire of composers from A to Z in a presentation with the Vancouver Recital Society. Joshua has given solo recitals in New York at Carnegie Hall with J.J. Penna, under the auspices of the Vancouver Recital Society with Graham Johnson, and in Toronto, in conjunction with The Aldeburgh Connection, offering a program entitled 'Schubert's Florilegium' highlighting many Lieder about flowers written by the composer. He is proud to have given the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas’ Rilke Songs at Zankel Hall in New York and to have joined Barbara Bonney for performances of songs by three generations of Mozart (Leopold, Wolfgang Amadeus, and Franz Xaver) under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He also has collaborated, in a program of Haydn part songs, with pianist Richard Goode.
Operatic engagements of the last season (2009-2010) include a Metropolitan Opera debut as Ping in Turandot, conducted by Andris Nelsons, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at Opera Lyra Ottawa and at the Santa Fe Opera with Lawrence Renes, Olivier in Capriccio at Pacific Opera Victoria, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Arizona Opera, and Sid in Albert Herring at the Santa Fe Opera under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. Joshua Hopkins toured North America with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy offering performances of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) and G.F. Handel’s Messiah in Quebec, Montreal, Los Angeles, and at Carnegie Hall in New York. Under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the artist appeared in recital at the Santa Fe Concert Association and, in conjunction with the Gilmore Festival, Hopkins presented an all-Robert Schumann programme for recitals in Michigan.
Joshua Hopkins’ 2010-2011 opera season includes a New York City Opera debut in Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, in a new production by Christopher Alden, a Dallas Opera debut in Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and a San Diego Opera debut in C. Gounod’s Faust. Symphonic highlights include J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) with the Arion Baroque Orchestra, followed by a recording with ATMA Classique, as well as the same work with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and G.F. Handel’s Messiah with the Oregon Symphony.
Joshua Hopkins records in an exclusive relationship with ATMA Classique and his first recital disc on the label is released in autumn 2010 featuring songs of Samuel Barber, Bowles, Glick, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. |
