Chad Armstrong
baritone
A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Chad Armstrong continues to receive acclaim as a distinct performer in productions throughout the USA and Europe. Chad’s busy performance schedule brought him to Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh as Count in a new English translation of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, the title role cover and Marullo RIGOLETTO and Yamadori/Commissario MADAMA BUTTERFLY with Opera Tampa; Count LE NOZZE DI FIGARO for Winter Opera St. Louis; Escamillo CARMEN for Western Plains Opera; and a reprise of the title role RIGOLETTO with Long Island Opera. He was also presented by Jane Marsh and The Metropolitan Opera Guild performing excerpts from GUILLAUME TELL and RIGOLETTO.
Other performances include Tiger Brown THE THREEPENNY OPERA with Amarillo Opera, Frank Maurrant STREET SCENE with Oklahoma Baptist University Opera Theatre, Kofel in Strauss’ FEURSNOT with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and Figaro LE NOZZE DI FIGARO with Western Plains Opera. In 2013, Mr. Armstrong joined NYC’s Gotham Chamber Opera to cover the role of Rappaccini LA HIJA DE RAPPACCINIand sang the baritone solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Minot Symphony Orchestra.
The 2012 season brought Mr. Armstrong’s debut in the role of Sharpless MADAMA BUTTERFLY with New Rochelle Opera. He also returned to Western Plains Opera to sing Tonio PAGLIACCI and once again to NYC’s Dicapo Opera as John Sorel THE CONSUL. In the Spring of 2011 Chad made his debut with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Teatro Luciano Pavarotti in Modena singing the title role of Luigi Dallapiccola’s IL PRIGIONIERO. As a winner of the 2009 Mezzo TV Festival and Competition in Szeged, Hungary, Mr. Armstrong made his debut with The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre singing the role of John Donne in Marco Tutino’s VITA. In addition to the performances in Ostrava, Czech Republic, the production was broadcast to over 40 countries from the final round of the competition in Hungary.
Opera Online hailed his Sonora in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST with Dicapo Opera Theater as “outstanding,” pointing out his “strong stage presence, strong vocal delivery and natural acting abilities.” Opera News said his Ping in Dicapo’s TURANDOT was “particularly impressive” and he was invited to reprise selections of the role in celebration of Puccini’s 150th birthday with the Opera Orchestra of New York under the baton of Maestro Francisco Bonnin in the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center. In New York City alone engagements have included John Proctor in THE CRUCIBLE, Lescaut MANON LESCAUT, Tom Carter in the January 2010 production of Thomas Pasatieri’s HOTEL CASABLANCA, and Pope Pius IX in the world premiere of IL CASO MORTARA by Francesco Cilluffo. For his Mercutio with National Lyric Opera, the Cape Cod Gazette applauded him as “a standout…besides stage savvy and animated presence, the artist possessed one of the finest voices in the cast.” Other successes in 2009 were Mr. Fox in the NY premiere of Tobias Picker’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX, Silvio in PAGLIACCI, Taddeo in L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI and Marcello in Opera in the Hampton’s LA BOHEME.
A poised and polished concert performer and recitalist Mr. Armstrong has made several Carnegie Hall appearances, most notably in 2008 as Baritone Soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. For a concert in March 2008 in NYC with Maestro Steven Osgood he presented selections from rarely-performed works of the 1920s and 30s commissioned for The Metropolitan Opera. Other concerts have included such works as Puccini’s Messa Di Gloria and Christof Bergman’s PIAZZA NAVONA.
