Neil Craighead

Neil Craighead’s burgeoning career has taken him from Vancouver to Newfoundland, featured in a diverse array of opera from Puccini to Somers. This season, Neil joins Calgary Opera as Masetto/Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Vancouver Opera as the Minskman in Dove’s Flight, and Edmonton Opera as Wotan in Wagner’s Die Walkure. On the concert stage, he joins the Regina Symphony for Handel’s Messiah and the Kamloops Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem.

Last season saw Neil’s returns to Vancouver Opera as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Pacific Opera Victoria for Ainadamar, Edmonton Opera for a role debut as Wotan in their production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, and, in concert with the Vancouver Bach Choir. Neil’s 2022-23 season included appearances with Pacific Opera Victoria in their new, season-opening production of Carmen, with Vancouver Opera for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Vancouver Bach Choir for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Highlights from past seasons include Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte with Edmonton Opera; Colline in La bohème for Calgary Opera, Vancouver Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company; Handel’s Messiah with the Vancouver Bach Choir; Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte and Zuniga in Carmen for Opéra de Québec; Scarpia in Tosca with Opera on the Avalon; and Count Ceprano in Rigoletto with the Canadian Opera Company. Other Pacific Opera Victoria credits include their productions of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, Beethoven’s Fidelio, and, most recently, Dove’s Flight.

In concert, Neil has recently joined the Vancouver Bach Choir for Mozart’s Requiem and Bach’s B Minor Mass, as well as the Orchestre classique de Montréal and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah. 

Equally at home in newer works, Mr. Craighead was featured in the COC’s landmark new production of Somers’s Louis Riel celebrating Canada’s Sesquicentennial and Tapestry Opera’s premiere of Oksana G. For Against the Grain Theatre he was Leporello in Mozart’s Don Goivanni, retitled #UncleJohn. An alumnus of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, further credits include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte for Edmonton Opera, and the roles of Somnus and Cadmus in the COC’s Semele, which took him to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

August 2024

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