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“Rick Christman . . .. a spectacularly gifted tenor” - Zakariasen
New York Daily News
Rick Christman has performed in every venue at New York’s Lincoln Center and his performances have thrilled audiences throughout Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Of his singing of the murderish role of Arnoldo in Rossini’s “William Tell”the Salzburger Nachtrichten wrote, “Rick Christman’s singing rose to mesmerizing and in the famous final act aria, he blazed forth the numerous high C’s of the cabaletta singing with full, round, and flowing tones.”
Mr. Christman studied under the tutelage of famed tenors Enrico Di Giuseppe, John Alexander, and Franco Corelli. Early engagements included New York’s Bel Canto Opera and the Bronx Opera, before being engaged by the New York City Opera, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera.Subsequently he was engaged by the Opernhaus Zurich in Zurich Switzerland to understudy Salvatore Fisichella in the role of Arnoldo in Rossini's “William Tell.” It was in that capacity that he made his European opera debut on one hour’s notice, singing under the baton of conductor Nello Santi, with La Scala artists Maria Chiara and Giorgio Zancanaro in the title role. Due to the success of that performance, he went on to sing Arnoldo in several European opera houses.
Before returning to the United States, the tenor had performed over 50 roles including Romeo, Rodolfo, Caramello, Alphonse, Alfredo, Fenton, Tamino, Almaviva, and had established himself as a concert artist throughout Austria with the Bruckner Orchestra.
He has studied and/or sung under the baton of such conductors as James Levine, Nello Santi, Nikolaus Hanoncourt, Georg Solti, Antonio Pappano, and Ignace Strasfogel. He has worked with many prominent stage directors including Tito Copobianco, Andrew Porter, Frank Corsaro, August Everding, Hal Prince, Peter Sellars, Daniel Schmid, and Franco Zeffirelli and sung with such famous singing artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Alfredo Kraus, Jon Vickers, Carlo Bergonzi, Joan Sutherland, Maria Chiara, Kiri Te Kanawa, Monserrat Caballe, Margaret Price, Michele Crider, Sherrill Milnes, and Giorgio Zancanaro.
Mr. Christman has been recorded by Condor Features singing the role of Arnoldo in “Guglielmo Tell” and can be heard singing in ZDF’s Television Production recording of the world premiere of "Kohlhaas", Vestron Motion Picture’s “China Girl.”
Mr. Christman is in very high demand as a voice teacher and maintains a voice studio in New York City while on the Voice faculty at the Catholic University of America’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music. His students perform throughout North America and Europe and continue to win major vocal competitions.