The German-American bass, Gabriel Rollinson, graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor of Music Degree (2011-May 2015) under the tutelage of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. He is currently pursuing his Masters degree at the Hochschule for Musik und Theater München, studying with Michelle Breedt. Master-classes and courses include Brigitte Fassbaender, Michel Sénéchal, Lauren Flanigan, Axel Bauni, and Rudolf Piernay.
Gabriel Rollinson's role experience spans through opera, oratorio and Lied, to musical theater and operetta. In Newfoundland, he was to be heard in Verdi’s La Traviata and W.A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Dottore Grenvil and Speaker of the Temple respectively) with festival Opera on the Avalon. Productions in New York include Gustav Holst’s The Perfect Fool (Traveler), Alessandro Scarlatti's La Giuditta (Sacerdote), conducted by early music specialist Kenneth Cooper, and in Franz Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns (Gustav), directed by Dona Vaughn. Musical theater productions include The Boys from Syracuse (Dromio of Ephesus), and the musical adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Mathew). This summer season he performed in The Magic Flute (Sarastro) with Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, directed by Damon Nestor Ploumis.
As a soloist and choral performer, Gabriel Rollinson has sung in works such as Monteverdi's Vespers and Francis Poulenc's Gloria, which he performed at Alice Tully Hall with conductor Anton Armstrong and in J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232) with the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra under the baton of Kent Tritle (February 2014). He was a member of the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Choir which traveled to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and at various venues in New York City, including with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for Henry Walton's Henry V with Christopher Plummer as narrator, L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and Charles Ives' Symphony No. 4. His recital programs often feature works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Schubert, as well as his own original compositions. He gives regular recitals in Germany and has performed in Italy, Franz and Austria. Premiered works include a micro-song cycle entitled Seeking You by composer Joseph Rubinstein and librettist Jason Kim, and a choral work by Alex Burtzos, Come Away Death.
When not engaging in musical activities, Gabriel enjoys doing voice-over and narration. His latest character was the villain Prince Prometheus Sàndor von Altgratis, the 20th century embodiment of Mephistopheles in Becca Menon's novel The Riddle and the Sphynx. |