Benjamin Butterfield

Regarded as a “musically arresting presence” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Benjamin Butterfield is in demand for concert, opera and recital. His stage repertoire has encompassed roles in the Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Rake’s Progress, Persephone, Cunning Little Vixen and Tamerlano with performances in Naples at Il Teatro di San Carlo, Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse, Welsh National Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, L’Opera Nationale de Montpellier, and Arizona Opera, as well as New York City Opera, L’Opera de Montreal, Vancouver Opera, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Canterbury Opera in New Zealand.

In concert he has appeared in Britten’s War Requiem with the London Symphony Chorus and the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, the St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln at the Toronto International Choral Festival. He has toured throughout Europe with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, the RIAS Kammerchor of Berlin and with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. Mr. Butterfield has performed with the Symphony Orchestras of San Francisco and Washington, New Jersey, Houston, and Chicago. Other appearances have included the Saito Kinen Festival with Seiji Ozawa, and Festival Vancouver performing the Mad Woman in Britten’s Curlew River.

The 2006-07 season highlights include his debut with the Houston Symphony singing Beethoven 9, and Messiahs with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, American Bach Soloists and Edmonton Symphony. Ben looks forward to reprising the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Pacific Opera Victoria with performances in Victoria, as well as London Ontario. He will also sing Britten’s Serenade with I Musici Montreal and Dvorak’s Specter’s Bride with Pacific Choir Victoria.

The 2005-2006 season finds Mr. Butterfield performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the Bethlehem Bach Festival, a piece that he will reprise with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra along with performances of Handel’s Messiah. Other upcoming orchestral engagements include performances with the London Symphony with Tim Vernon conducting, the Oregon Symphony, the National Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic and a return to the Carmel Bach Festival this summer. April finds Mr. Butterfield at the Calgary Opera where he will sing Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Mr. Butterfield will also continue his active recital schedule with a variety of solo recitals in North America.

Highlights from Mr. Butterfield’s previous seasons include appearances at the Carmel Bach Festival in California with conductor Bruno Weil in both St. Matthew Passion and Mozart’s Coronation Mass , a tour of Mozart’s Requiem and Vespers with conductor Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy, as well as performances of Messiah with the San Diego Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra . Mr. Butterfield returned to Opera Ontario as Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. He also continued his relationship as a soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. His debut with L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg singing L’enfance du Christ , Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet with the Toronto Symphony under Sir Andrew Davis, and Bach Cantatas at the BBC Proms with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.

Of his many recordings, the Britten Serenade (CBC/Streatfeild) and The Canticles (Marquis/Aldeburgh Connection) have been recognized by the Juno Awards. He has also recorded Brahms and Schumann Liebeslieder (CBC/Aldeburgh Connection), music of Bach, Schutz and Haydn (Koch International/Thomas), Opera Encores (CBC/Bradshaw), Messiah excerpts with Tafelmusik (CBC/Taurins) and Weinachts Oratorium (Dorion/Funfgeld). Film and TV credits include Dido and Aeneas with the Mark Morris Dance Company and Tafelmusik, L’enfant et les sortileges with the Montreal Symphony and Charles Dutoit, Messiah for ZDF in Halle with the English Concert and Trevor Pinnock, and Bach’s B minor Mass with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem for PBS. He is also heard regularly on CBC Radio.