About this Artist

Canadian baritone HUGH RUSSELL continues to receive high praise for his charisma, dramatic energy, and vocal beauty. He is widely acclaimed for his performances in the operas of Mozart and Rossini, and is regularly invited to perform with symphony orchestras throughout North America. At the center of his orchestral repertoire is Orff’s popular Carmina Burana, which Russell has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony, among others.

In the current season, Russell will be heard in performances of Carmina Burana with the Indianapolis Symphony and new Music Director Krzysztof Urba´nski [ACCENT OVER THE “n”], the National Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, the Milwaukee Symphony and Andreas Delfs, and the Houston Symphony with Music Director Hans Graf. He appears with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony with Music Director Edwin Outwater in a season opening Gala, and returns later for performances of Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer. He returns to the Vancouver Symphony for concerts with Music Director Bramwell Tovey of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Songs of a Wayfarer. He adds John Adams’ The Wound-Dresser in performances with the Toledo Symphony and will be heard in the title role of The Barber of Seville with Opera Hamilton. In the 2012/13 season, Russell makes his debut with the Danish Radio Symphony in performances of Carmina Burana with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and for his debut with the Naples Philharmonic. Additional performances include Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and his return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis as General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance.

During the 2010/11 season, Russell made his UK debut as Virginio in Mercadante’s Virginia at the Wexford Festival. He joined Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony for performances of Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony and sang Papageno in his debut with Manitoba Opera. Additional performances included Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Vail and at his alma mater, the Oberlin Conservatory. Russell began the 2009/10 season as Lescaut in performances of Massenet’s Manon for Angers-Nantes Opéra. He returned to Atlanta Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and was heard in concert performances of Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Fauré’s Requiem with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Carmina Burana with Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Sarasota Symphony Orchestra.

Russell has been seen at the New York City Opera, where he made his company debut singing the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well as the Los Angeles Opera, where he sang Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, conducted by Kent Nagano. He was both an Adler Fellow and a member of the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera, where he was heard in Ariadne auf Naxos and in Messiaen’s St. François d’Assise. The San Francisco Classical Voice proclaimed, “He seems born for the stage. And with a lyrical voice boasting a strong and exciting top end, he is a complete performer.”