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The American baritone, Kevin Kesys, studied at Kalamazoo College; obtained his Master of Music degree from Northwestern University; and his DMA degree from from Northwestern University.
Keven Keys has performed in a wide variety of both classical and music theater works, including Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, Sondheim’s Assassins, Harnick and Bock’s She Loves Me, Verdi’s Falstaff, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Sergei Rachmaninov's Aleko, W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Mark Adamo’s Little Women.
Keven Keys has appeared with orchestras around the Midwest and beyond, performing the Gabriel Fauré's Requiem with the Grant Park Orchestra, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor (BWV 232) with the Bach Festival of Kalamazoo: Bach Festival Week, Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 8 with the Colorado Mahlerfest, as well as including the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Fox Valley Symphony. He has performed numerous times with both the Peninsula Music Festival and Music of the Baroque, Chicago (Director: Jane Glover).
Recent appearances have included Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra; the title role of Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Music Institute of Chicago; Dr. Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love with the Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra; Jesus in J.S. Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245) with the Grace Lutheran Church: Bach Cantata Vespers (April 2017); Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra; the Easter portion of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah at the First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville; Maurice Duruflé's Requiem with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic; L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Highland Park Strings.
Keven Keys' concert repertoire includes Sergei Rachmaninov's Bells, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor (BWV 232), Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248), St John Passion (BWV 245), St Matthew Passion (BWV 244), and the Bach solo Cantata BWV 82 Ich habe genug (with the Sherwood Conservatory); W.A. Mozart, Gabriel Fauré and M. Duruflé Requiems; Gustav Mahler's Rückert Lieder, R. Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, Mystical Songs and Dona Nobis Pacem; and F. Mendelssohn’s Elijah; with groups including the Orion Ensemble, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and Northeastern Illinois University Orchestra.
Keven Keys' recordings include The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by Kurt Sander. He married Shannon Barker Keys in 2008, and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. |
