Peter Barrett
Baritone Peter Barrett has been recently celebrated for his “commanding” performances with “stage presence to burn” (Opera Canada). His recent engagements have included role debuts as Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana) with Opera West, as Scarpia (Tosca) with Edmonton Opera, Ratefreund in Pacific Opera Victoria’s Braunfels’ Die Vögel (Canadian premiere), and his return to the Canadian Opera Company for the world premiere of Marshall’s Pomegranate. This season, he returns to Vancouver Opera as Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Other recent engagements include Canadian Opera Company’s digital production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Edmonton Opera’s production of Puccini’s La bohème, and the world premiere of Nicole Lizée’s R.U.R.: A Torrent of Light with Tapestry Opera. In previous seasons, Peter was seen as Valentin in Faust for the Vancouver Opera, Wolseley in Louis Riel at the Canadian Opera Company, and Emile de Becque in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific with Calgary Opera.
For several seasons, Barrett was on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut in the role of Malatesta in Don Pasquale opposite Anna Netrebko, and juggled several cover assignments, including Dr. Falke, Mercutio, and Morales, among others. Barrett’s additional operatic appearances have included Marcello in La bohème for Minnesota Opera, Rodrigo in Don Carlos and Dancaïro in Carmen for the Vancouver Opera, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Lyra Ottawa, the King in Conrad Susa’s Transformations for the Wexford Festival, and The Nightingale and Other Short Fables at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
As a concert artist, Barrett has sung Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem with the Newfoundland Symphony, Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Calgary Philharmonic, and Hamilton’s Bach Elgar Choir, and Carmina Burana with the Regina Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and Ottawa Choral Society.
An alumnus of Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, Barrett has appeared with the COC in many roles, including Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Marcello in La bohème, Denisov/Rayevsky in War and Peace, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes, the Mandarin and Ping in Turandot, Marullo in Rigoletto, Dancaïro and Morales in Carmen, Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos, and in Janáček’s From the House of the Dead.
Peter Barrett studied at Hartwick College in the United States, attended Tanglewood’s Music Institute and graduated from the Glenn Gould Professional School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he studied under Roxolana Roslak and Peter Tiefenbach. Further credits include the “Galaxy Rising Star” prize for most promising young artist at the 32nd Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s National Competition for Young Performers, a Ian Rosenblatt Bursary at the Wexford Festival in Ireland, and top prizes at the Montreal International Music Competition.
August 2024
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““Peter Barrett was an authoritative, full-voiced Dr. Falke, cloaked in an aura of mystery.”
[Die Fledermaus, Canadian Opera Company]
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