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Clayton Brainerd, bass-baritone...


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December 2008

This Portland Oregon born, award-winning baritone has amassed a wonderful list of accolades and successes in the last decade singing leading roles with the major orchestras and opera companies of the world under the baton of conductors including James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Micheal Tilson Thomas, Charles Dutoit, Zdenek Macal, Jeffery Tate, Jesus Lopez-Cobos and Christophe von Dohnanyi.  His imposing stage presence and magnificent voice have electrified audiences in Europe, New Zealand, Canada, North and South America, Korea and Japan.

Highlights of the past few seasons include Mahler 8th Symphony, Missa Solemnis, Mozart Requiem, & Beethoven 9th with the Seattle Symphony, Les Troyens at Tanglewood with Levine, Oedipus Rex with the Boston Symphony under the direction of von Dohnanyi, Walküre Wotan (cover) on the MET tour of Japan and Sachs (cover) in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the MET, and the American Premier of the opera Sophie’s Choice by Nicholas Maw at the Washington Opera.

Previous seasons included Elijah, Saul, Mozart Requiem, Mahler 8th Symphony, & Creation with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Messiah & Oedipus Rex with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and a return to New Orleans Opera for performances of Siegfried.  Following covering Wotan in five complete Ring Cycles with Scottish Opera Mr. Brainerd sang the role of Amonasro in the production of Aida with the Scottish Opera and covered all performances of Gunther in Götterdämmerung at the MET!

Mr. Brainerd sang Wotan in Die Walküre at the Scottish Opera’s second installment of their internationally acclaimed Ring Cycle.  In fact, he was awarded the coveted “Herald Angel Award” from the Edinburgh Festival, naming him as one of the most outstanding performers at the festival.  “Clayton Brainerd joined the cast during the run to take over as Wotan.  He was magnificent.  Mr. Brainerd, with his soft vocal textures, strong but gentle demeanor and expressive intelligence, sang of wisdom being gained through uncertainty and defeat.”  New York Times September 4, 2001

Clayton Brainerd has also made his debut at the Paris Opera (Bastille) in La Damnation de Faust with Seiji Ozawa on the podium, a debut in Madrid singing the title role in performances of a newly discovered opera Merlin by Isaac Albéniz, Wotan in Die Walküre with the New Orleans Opera and performances of Messiah at Carnegie Hall.  Mr. Brainerd replaced James Morris as Wotan in Die Walküre performances at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, performances and recorded The Dream of the Peasant Grishko by Mussorgsky with the New Jersey Symphony under the baton of Zdenek Macal.  Mr. Brainerd has sung Kurvenal in a performances and recording of Tristan und Isolde at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York and Scarpia in Tosca with Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, Spain.  He also debuted with the New Zealand Symphony as Wotan in five concert performances of Wagner's Das Rheingold -- a role in which he won critical acclaim with the Arizona Opera Ring Cycle.  Mr. Brainerd sang Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic under the auspices of Seiji Ozawa.  Also with Ozawa, were performances of Madama Butterfly and the Boston Symphony and Damnation of Faust with Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan.

MR. BRAINERD'S versatility encompasses not only the Wagnerian repertoire of Wotan, and Gunther in The Ring and the title roles in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, but also many roles in the Italian and French operatic repertoire, including Scarpia in Tosca, Falstaff, Commendatore in Don Giovanni Villains in Hoffman, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande and Mephistopheles in The Damnation of Faust.  Mr. Brainerd is also in great demand as a concert artist throughout the world singing a vast repertoire from the Baroque to Modern!


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e n g a g e m e n t s
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2008

Lied Center St. Matthew Passion (Bach) (Jesus)
March 13 (15)
NW Sinfonietta Beethoven 9th
April 1 (April 4, 5, & 6)
Boston Symphony Les Troyens (Berlioz) (Panthus)
April 17 (22, 24, 26, 30, May 2 & 4)
NW Sinfonietta Winterreise (Schubert)
May 17
Tanglewood (BSO) Les Troyens (Berlioz) (Panthus)
June 27 (July 5 & 6)
Seattle Symphony Mahler 8th Symphony
September 22 (25, 27 & 28)
Portland Opera Fidelio (Beethoven) (Don Fernando)
October 17 (Nov. 7, 9m, 13, 15)
Milwaukie Symphony Beethoven 9th Symphony
December 30 (31, Jan 2 & 3)




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Bach St. Matthew Passion
Bach St. John Passion
Bach Christmas Oratorio
Bach B Minor Mass
Bach Solo Cantatas 56 & 82
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Beethoven 9th Symphony
Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem
Britten War Requiem
Bruch Das Lied von der Glocke
Handel Messiah
Handel Saul
Haydn Seasons
Haydn Creation
Mahler 8th Symphony
Mahler Das Klagende Lied
Mozart Requiem
Mozart Grand Mass in C
Mendelssohn Elijah
Stravinsky Oedipus Rex
Stravinsky Le Rossignol
Verdi Requiem


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Boston Symphony - Oedipus Rex, Stravinsky
"And the male soloists were superb. There was a thunderous trio of basses led by the eminent Jamaican artist Sir Willard White as Creon, with Franz-Josef Selig as Tiresias, and the awe-inspiring Clayton Brainerd as the Messenger."
- The Boston Globe by Richard Dyer, Friday, May 5, 2006

Berkeley Opera - Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg
A Master Singer, Clayton Brainerd, singing Hans Sachs, stood head and shoulders above the rest of the generally good cast. He has an international career: it's easy to see why but hard to understand why it's not even bigger. (He sounded much better than San Francisco Opera's last Sachs, James Morris, who was unpleasantly dry-voiced when he sang the role in 2001.) His baritone is beautiful, firm, resonant, well-controlled at all dynamic levels, smoothly-produced and expressive, as is his stage manner. He brought out all of Sachs's nobility, wisdom and experience in his scenes with the guild and Walther. He was touching and vulnerable with Eva and sly as he trapped Beckmesser.
- San Francisco Classical Voice by Lisa Hirsch, July 22, 2005

Monterey Symphony Orchestra "Beethoven 9th"
"Baritone Clayton Brainerd, fresh from performances at New York's Metropolitan Opera, boomed like a sonorous god of brotherhood and joy, filling the auditorium with frissons. The other excellent soloists - were simply overshadowed by this tremendous solo vocal force"
- Monterey County Herald, Tuesday, May 25th 2004

New Orleans Opera "Das Rheingold"
"As Wotan, the king of the gods, Clayton Brainerd sang with clarity and conviction, displaying various aspects of Wotan's personality. He projected the nobility beneath the character's constantly changing emotions."
- The Times Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana Saturday March 13, 2004

Scottish Opera "Aida"
"The cast grows in personality. Clayton Brainerd makes Amonasro a tough, bullying Ernest Hemingway."
- Scottish Herald, Glasgow, Scotland, December 5, 2003

Scottish Opera "Aida"
"Amonasro was Clayton Brainerd, an immense man with a ferocious delivery, who promised to deliver the Ethiopian king as a colossal bully."
- Opera, London, England, February 2003

Scottish Opera "Aida"
"And Clayton Brainerd's Amonasro, father of Aida, proved to be the audience favorite, thanks to his imposing bass."
- Daily Mail, London, England, December 2003

New Orleans Opera "Die Walküre"
"Clayton Brainerd, now with more experience as Wotan, has matured remarkably. His dark voice rang out dramatically, causing one to regret the cuts made to his monologue. His complaints in Act III showed fire long before his spear struck the rock"
- Wagner Society of New York "Wagner Notes", New York, NY February 2002

Scottish Opera "Die Walküre"
"Meanwhile, onstage there was further expression and dynamism from the singers, as well as newness in ways that had not been anticipated. Elizabeth Byrne was a late replacement as Brünnhilde, and Clayton Brainerd joined the cast during the run to take over as Wotan from an indisposed Matthew Best. Both were magnificent. Mr. Brainerd, with his soft vocal textures, strong but gentle demeanor and expressive intelligence, sang of wisdom being gained through uncertainty and defeat."
- New York Times, New York, NY September 4, 2001

Paris Opera (Bastille) "La Damnation de Faust"
"Le bonne surprize étant venue de Clayton Brainerd, épisodique Brander de magnifique stature." (The good surprise came from Clayton Brainerd, an episodic Brander of magnificent stature)
- Scenes Magazine, Paris France July 22, 2001

Minnesota Symphony Orchestra "Tristan und Isolde"
"Clayton Brainerd sang the part of the faithful squire Kurwenal with supreme dignity. His dark, sharply focused voice cut right through the orchestra and his words carried to the farthest seats in the hall!"
- St Paul Pioneer Press, St Paul, Minnesota May 28, 1998

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra "Das Rheingold"
"The choice of the young American bass baritone Clayton Brainerd for the role of Wotan was an inspired one. A huge man with a voice to match, Brainerd conveyed Wotan's godly nobility as well as his fragility with utter conviction. At the opening of Scene II his singing of the marvelous lines as Wotan gazes on the completed Walhalla sent shivers down the spine!"
- Lively Arts, Auckland, New Zealand, September 1997

Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires "Die Walküre"
"Morris, who canceled his last two performances, was replaced by Clayton Brainerd, an American newcomer who had mastered a difficult role and displayed a beautiful if not voluminous bass-baritone, with an easy top."
- Opera News, December 28, 1996


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