Curtis Streetman, baritone

Bass Curtis Streetman has earned praise for the power and beauty of his voice in repertoire that ranges from the Renaissance to the music of Benjamin Britten and Conrad Susa. His opera credentials include the major bass roles in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Peri’s Euridice, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Die Zauberfloete, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Britten’s Billy Budd, as well as the bass leads in many Handel operas, in major houses.

In recent seasons, he has sung the role of Jesus, and the bass arias in Bach’s St. John Passion with The New York Collegium conducted by Andrew Parrott; appeared in Handel’s Ariodante with the Handel and Haydn Society, conducted by Christopher Hogwood; made his debut with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; and appeared at the Salzburg Festival in a premiere of Handel’s Radamisto under Maestro Martin Haselboeck.

Mr. Streetman has performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at Carnegie Hall and Monteverdi’s Vespers at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. He has recorded the latter work for Musical Heritage Society, as well as Castelnuovo-Tedesko’s Romanciero Gitano, on the New World Classics label, music of Charpentier on the Naxos label, and Clarembault Cantatas for Dorian.

Highlights of the current season include the role of Colline in La Boheme, with the Pacific Opera Victoria, Canada; appearances with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, in a program of recently discovered bass arias of C.P.E. Bach, and his directorial debut with the New York Collegium, in a program of English restoration music, honoring the diarist Samuel Pepys. At the invitation of the Salzburg Festival, he will make his solo debut at Dortmund’s new Philharmonic Hall, Germany. He also returns to Carnegie Hall for Messiah performances with the Masterwork Chorus, and tours the United States with the instrumental Ensemble Rebel, performing music that influenced J.S.Bach.

Upcoming performances include debuts with the San Diego Symphony, Switzerland’s Solothurn Festival, Spain’s Salamanca Festival, as well as Montreal’s Les Violons du Roi, under the direction of Bernard Labadie, and return engagement with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra directed by Nicholas McGegan. Mr. Streetman returns to Europe to perform with the Salzburg Festival on tour, in performances of Handel’s Radamisto.

Mr. Streetman began his musical training at an early age at the Choir School of St. Thomas Church, in New York City, where he worked with the famed improvasiteur, Dr. Gerre Hancock. His career has brought him full circle, as he was recently appointed vocal instructor at the Choir School.