JAMES BOBICK

Baritone James Bobick has enjoyed a versatile career, from leading operatic roles in the works of Donizetti, Verdi, Bizet, and Mozart to those in the operas of contemporary composers including Jake Heggie, Mark Adamo, John Eaton, and David T. Little. Mr. Bobick was seen in over twenty roles at New York City Opera, including a Primetime Emmy-winning broadcast of La Bohème. He has also appeared with companies including Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Colorado, Connecticut Opera, Opera Mississippi, Opera Omaha, Opera Pacific, Opera Delaware, Virginia Opera, Baltimore Opera, Wichita Grand Opera, Dayton Opera, Central City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and the Bard Festival, among others. James can also be heard as Howard on the on the Grammy-nominated original cast recording of David T. Little’s Dog Days.

James Bobick is regularly praised for the quality of both his singing and his acting. As Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, the Washington Post singled him out for particular praise; “Among the many good things about Virginia Opera’s production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, the best was baritone James Bobick as Figaro. Bobick was a standout in a strongly cast production. He has a fine voice and his first-act aria ‘Largo al factotum,’ was given a bravura performance. With his good looks, excellent comic timing and strong stage presence, he exuded confidence and joie de vivre. It is a Figaro to remember.” Opera News noted that in La Bohème, “Bobick was an ideal Marcello, singing with comic point and vocally splendid in the Act IV duet” and, in a performance with LA Opera, that “James Bobick, who sang the role of the Father with manic intensity, presented a disturbing study of the easily-crossed borderline between patriarchalism and vituperative madness.” The New York Times has also praised James for his “burnished sound and incisive diction” as the Gambler in Jack Beeson’s Hello Out There and for his work in Little’s Dog Days, printing, “The vocal cast is uniformly fine, with particularly moving work from James Bobick as Howard.”

In addition to his work in the standard operatic repertoire, Mr. Bobick has extensive experience performing the new works of contemporary composers. He has bowed as Bendrix in Jake Heggie’s End of the Affair, Kinesias in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata, Dr. Bloom in John Eaton’s micro-tonal operas Pumped Fiction and Rerouted, Donald Giovanni in P.D.Q. Bach’s The Abduction of Figaro, Rob Petrie in Paul Salerni’s The Life and Love of Joe Coogan, and as Howard in David T. Little’s critically acclaimed Dog Days. He has also performed contemporary works while in concert and on recording. These works have included leading roles in Robert Manno’s Dylan and Caitlin, Robert Aldrich’s Elmer Gantry, John Eaton’s The Rev. Jim Jones, Herschel Garfein’s Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Timothy Geller’s Where Silence Reigns, Stephen Colantti's The Selfish Giant, Robert Patterson’s A Child Possessed, Matt Marks’ Bluetooth Islands, Sergio Cervetti’s Elegy for a Prince and Yum!, Michael Dellaira's The Death of Webern, David T. Little’s Soldier Songs, and Ted Hearne’s Katrina Ballads.

James Bobick is also a frequent concert soloist. At Carnegie Hall, he has been heard in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. He has performed at Avery Fisher (David Geffen) Hall in Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Haydn’s Creation and Paukenmesse, Bach's Mass in B minor, and Handel’s Messiah. Internationally, he has performed as the baritone soloist for Messiah in Prague with the Prague Symphony; Carmina Burana and Messiah in San José, Costa Rica with the National Symphony; Fauré’s Requiem in Paris, Reims, and Chartres with the Orchestre Pasdeloup; and, Fauré’s Tu es Petrus during Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Around the United States, Mr. Bobick’s performances have included Carmina Burana, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat and Mass in B minor, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Messiah, and the title role in Saul, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Lord Nelson Mass, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Five Mystical Songs, and Songs of Travel, Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio.

Most recently, Mr. Bobick was heard as the baritone soloist for Carmina Burana with Oklahoma City Ballet, on the Utah Philharmonia’s annual Haunted Halloween concert, and on the University of Utah’s Voice Area’s Sundays@7 Concert.