A 2016 National Semi-Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, bass-baritone Christian Pursell is swiftly gaining notice for his role in the critically acclaimed world premiere of Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers. Best recognized as Senator Potter’s Assistant and the priest who takes Tim’s confession, his debut season with Cincinnati Opera also included the Jailer in Tosca and a solo performance with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. This spring, Mr. Pursell made his Houston Grand Opera debut singing the role of Tom in the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky's Some Light Emerges. Other recent roles include Dandini in La Cenerentola (Merola Opera Program), Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon (CCM), Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen (CCM), the Herald in Rigoletto (Opera San Jose), Marcello in La Bohème (SFCM), and Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore (SFCM) - a role Pursell also performed at the Kennedy Center. No stranger to the concert stage, recent seasons have seen solo appearances in Britten’s War Requiem (San Jose Symphonic Choir), Haydn’s The Creation (Denison University), Faure’s Requiem (Athenaeum of Ohio), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (San Jose Symphonic Choir), Handel’s Messiah (San Jose Baroque Orchestra), the Fifth Jew in Strauss’ Salome (CCM), and Pilate in a staged production of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (CCM). A 2017 Jensen Foundation Second Award Winner and Sara Tucker Study Grant recipient, Mr. Pursell’s upcoming engagements include the Second Englishman in Prokofiev's Der Spieler (Vienna Staatsoper) and a reprise of his role in Fellow Travelers (Prototype Festival).
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