Simon Barrad, baritone

The versatility of Grammy-nominated baritone, Simon Barrad, has been heard across the United States and Europe in opera, Lieder, and oratorio concerts. Upcoming highlights include debuts at Wigmore Hall, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Detroit Symphony. His favorite performed roles and pieces include Dandini (La Cenerentola), Robert (Iolanta), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Owen Wingrave, Kaiser Overall (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), and the baritone solos in Carmina Burana, Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard, and Sibelius’ Kullervo Symphony. He has recently sung with such companies and festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Bach Festival.

In 2015/16 as a Fulbright scholar in Helsinki, Mr. Barrad toured southern Finland with his Musical Madeleine recital, and gave lectures and private lessons promoting contemporary American art song abroad. He is also an avid lover and performer of jazz and new music.  He is a four-time Downbeat magazine national award winner for vocal jazz, and he has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, ADCA conventions across the country, and the Grammys as a member of the Grammy vocal jazz ensemble.  In the realm of new music, he has consistently championed new works, giving first performances of works by John Harbison, David Lang, and many others, as well as performing at the John Duffy Composer Institute under the direction of Libby Larsen.

Mr. Barrad holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music where he studied with Kenneth Shaw.  He has collaborated with artists including Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Awadagin Pratt, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn.