Russell Braun is in demand worldwide as a recitalist, concert performer and opera singer.
Past seasons have seen Mr. Braun appear in concert with the St. Louis Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, San Francisco Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Dallas Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Edmonton Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic. He has worked with many of the world's leading conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Sylvain Cambreling, James Conlon, Bruno Campanella, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Richard Bradshaw and Bernard Labadie.
Recent highlights of his opera work include his critically acclaimed debut in the title role of Eugene Onegin with the San Francisco Opera, the title role in Billy Budd and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor for the Canadian Opera Company, Zurga in San Diego's Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Pélleas Pélleas et Mélisande at the Glyndebourne Festival and La Scala, Orestes in the Opéra national de Paris's Iphegénie en Tauride and Dido & Aeneas at the Théatre du Châtelet, Paris and his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut as Valentin in Faust .
Mr Braun has also sung in solo recitals in Montréal, Toronto, New York (Carnegie Hall), Bridgewater (Virginia) and Winnipeg, in duo recital with Michael Schade in San Diego, Graz, Berlin, Hamburg, Strasbourg and Ludwigsburg and with fellow Canadians Isabel Bayrakdarian, Norine Burgess and Michael Schade at Carnegie Hall and in 2003 Mr. Braun made his debut at the Tanglewood Festival. The 2005/6 season also saw the release of Burnt Toast , a series of eight 6-minute comic operas composed by Alexina Louie and written by Dan Redican featuring the voices of some of Canada's most famed opera stars.
Engagements in the 2006-2007 season included Guglielmo, Cosi fan tutte with the Canadian Opera Company, Silvio I Pagliacci for the Metropolitan Opera, Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Japan, Kindertotenlieder with the Toronto Symphony, a recital of Winterreise in Saint Mary's in Japan, a duo recital with Isabel Bayrakdarian, concerts with the Atlanta and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras and the Fauré Requiem with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the BBC Proms under Thierry Fischer.
Future engagements include Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia for the Metropolitan Opera, Count Le Nozze di Figaro and Pélleas with the Canadian Opera Company, Wolfram Tannhäuser with San Diego Opera, duo recitals in Toronto and New York with Michael Schade.
His extensive discography includes the recent releases of Winterreise and Mozart arias with Michael Schade and Isabel Bayrakdarian (CBC Records), Dido & Aeneas (Telarc and CBC Records), the award-winning Soirée Française with Michael Schade, Le Souvenir, a collection of Canadian songs, Shattered Night, Shivering Stars featuring the music of Canadian composer Alexina Louie and Liebeslieder - Folksongs with the Aldeburgh Connection, Meditation, featuring the works of Gerald Finzi (CBC Records) and Serata Italiana , a recording of Italian opera arias and duets with Michael Schade (CBC Records).
Russell Braun is represented by Intermusica in the UK.
September 2007 / 485 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.