Gary Aldrich
GARY ALDRICH, bass-baritone, is equally at home in concert, opera, oratorio, and musical theater. A consummate cross-over singer, he moved from New York to Nevada in 2000 to teach voice at the University of Nevada, Reno, while still maintaining an active singing career.
Known nationwide as “a singer who can act!” (New Haven Register), his recent New York solo performances include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, the Magnificats of J. S. and C.P.E. Bach, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, J. S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Cantata #80 (Ein Feste Burg), Mozart’s Thamos, King of Egypt, and On Broadway with Gershwin, Arlen and Bernstein, all at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. His success as the Major General in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance with Nashville Opera prompts a return for next season’s in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, as well as Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Sacramento and Baron Zeta in Lehár's The Merry Widow with Nevada Opera. He may be heard on his latest CD as bass soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with The William Hall Chorale and Long Beach Symphony.
GARY ALDRICH has employed his stage talents in every aspect of his musical career. Blessed with a voice of “uncommon compass and agility, he exhibits a brilliant, ringing top” (The Village Voice/New York) which has brought him acclaim in the lyric bel canto roles on the operatic stage as well as a lower extension which has brought him distinction on the concert platform in a wide range of both baritone and bass-baritone repertoire.
He made his West Coast debut in Verdi's Requiem with the Sacramento Symphony. Other oratorio/symphonic credits include engagements as vocal soloist with the National Chorale and Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Honolulu, Sacramento, Phoenix, Charleston, Nashville, Berkeley, Monterey, Syracuse, Albany, Johnstown (PA), York, Sun City (AZ), Utah, New York’s Amor Artis Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Reno Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s acclaimed production of Revelations.
He has been soloist with prestigious choral societies across the country, including San Francisco’s Schola Cantorum and Los Angeles’ William Hall Chorale, in four centuries of masterpieces from Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 through Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Brubeck’s A Light in the Wilderness, including Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, the Stabat Mater of Dvorak and Rossini, Dvorak’s The Spectre’s Bride, and R. Vaughn-Williams’ Hodie.
Opera credits include Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca with New York City’s PALA Opera and Springfield (MO) Regional Opera. “As Scarpia, Gary Aldrich was absolutely mesmerizing... demonic!” wrote the critic in the Springfield News-Leader. Under the direction of James Billings he has also been seen as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and the title roles in Don Giovanni and Verdi's Rigoletto. Utilizing his extensive background on the dramatic stage, his opera characterizations have run the gamut from Enrico and Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor through Germont in Verdi's La Traviata and the four villains in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.
In a lighter vein he has enlivened many productions with his portrayals of Falke in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Zeta in Lehár's The Merry Widow, Mr. Page in Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Father in Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, and the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.
Opera audiences have seen him at Washington Opera, Utah Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater, Syracuse Opera, Lake George Opera, Whitewater Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Nashville Opera, Augusta Opera, Berkshire Opera, Treasure Coast Opera, Sorg Opera, Nevada Opera, and Opera Theater of Rochester, among others.
He has made concert and stage appearances in Canada, England, France, Italy, Russia, and throughout the Middle East. Equally at home in the idiom of the American musical theater, he has appeared on Broadway, at Kennedy Center, the Moscow Music Theater and on television in Joe Raposo’s Raggedy Ann: The Musical, directed by Patricia Birch. He has starred in regional and off-Broadway productions of Sondheim’s Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, and Side by Side, as well as Kiss Me Kate, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Candide, Oklahoma!, Jacques Brel… and Man of La Mancha.
A native New Yorker, Aldrich holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in theater and voice performance from the State University of New York. He continued his training as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Studio and for ten years performed and taught as a Teacher-Artist at New York’s Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts. He is currently on the voice faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College, is artistic director of the Sierra Lyric Opera Studio and general director of the Gary Aldrich Vocal Studios.
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