John Chest, baritone
49th IVC 2012
Arleen Auger Prize
John Chest – baritone – USA
€ 5.000 (best all-round interpreter)
With the support of mister Wim Scherpenhuijsen Rom
American baritone John Chest has held apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera, the Chicago Opera Theatre and took part in the prestigious Merola Opera Programme. He is a recent graduate of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he sang over 80 performances including Fiorello Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Schaunard La Bohème, Lovec Rusalka, Petrucci Lucrezia Borgia; Carmen with Jonas Kaufmann, La Boheme with Anja Harteros, and Lucrezia Borgia with Edita Gruberova. Other past roles include Dandini La Cenerentola and Guglielmo Così fan tutte.
Highlights of the 2011/12 season include Chest’s role debut as Ned Keene in a new production of Peter Grimes at the Norwegian Opera, Il Conte Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro for the Nationale Reisopera and, at the end of the season, Nardo La finta giardiniera at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. In the 2013/2014 season he will take up a Fest contract with Deutsche Oper Berlin.
John Chest holds a Master’s degree in music from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University where he studied with David Holloway.