Biography
American tenor Christopher Reames is establishing an exciting and engaging career as a concert artist, recitalist, and dynamic performer on the operatic stage. Chris is a winner of The Gérard Souzay Prize for French Singing appropriated by Dalton Baldwin and administered by The Art Song Preservation Society of New York, who co-sponsored his New York City recital debut of beloved French mélodies in Marc A. Scorca Hall at The National Opera Center. Chris’ compelling performances captivate audiences with beauty and sensitivity, and he has been praised for his “lustrous” singing and “great musicality” by The Examiner of Greater Kansas City.
Chris is a recent finalist in national competitions such as the Joy in Singing Artist Award Competition, New York Oratorio Society Solo Competition, Franco-American Vocal Academy Grand Concours de Chant, Art Song Preservation Society of New York Mary Trueman Song Competition and the National Association of the Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition. Recent operatic performances include Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Prologue/Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw with Stony Brook Opera, Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor, the title role in Weber’s Oberon, Gomatz in Zaide, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the Manhattan based Occasional Opera Company.
An avid performer of sacred music, his recent concert performances include Uriel in The Creation with the Village Church Choir and Orchestra at Kansas City’s own Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Obadiah in Elijah with the Huntington Choral Society, Evangelist in both the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, and as the tenor soloist in The Messiah with the Musica Lumina chamber ensemble of Niles, IL and with the Long Island Choral Society, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat with St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church of Bay Shore, NY, excerpts from Bach’s Weihnachts Oratorium with St. John’s Church of Cold Spring Harbor, NY, several of Bach’s sacred cantatas, and secular works by Purcell and Monteverdi with the Stony Brook Baroque Ensemble, and under the direction of John Harbison at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA.
Passionate about the art of recital singing, Chris’ diverse repertoire spans more than 400 years from Monteverdi, Handel, Haydn and Mozart through Beethoven and Schumann to Debussy, Poulenc, Britten, Barber and Messiaen. Highlights include Schubert’s Auf dem Strom, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Poulenc’s Tel jour telle nuit, Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Brahms’ Fünf Lieder, Op. 47, Debussy’s Fêtes galantes, and many selections from The Great American Songbook. He possesses a particular affinity for French melodies, and for British art song repertoire, and has received great praise from audiences following recent performances of Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge, Finzi’s Farewell to Arms, Gurney’s “Trench” songs, Britten’s Winter Words, and Three Songs from “The Heart of the Matter”, including Canticle III.
In addition to his career as a soloist, Chris has equally thrived in both large and small choral ensembles. He served the celebrated St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church Parish Choir in Bay Shore, NY as a staff section leader and soloist from 2011-18. In a similar role, he previously served superior choral music programs at Green Valley Presbyterian Church in Henderson, NV, Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS, and the Church of St. Patrick in Huntington, NY. Singing sacred choral music at a high level remains a consistent artistic priority for him, as it has provided many rewarding musical opportunities, and a fulfilling sense of community contribution and leadership.
Chris is a past fellowship recipient at the Tanglewood Music Center, SongFest, Aspen Music Festival, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Cincinnati College-Conservatory’s Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, and is an alumnus of the prestigious N.A.T.S. Internship Program. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a Master of Music degree from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and a Bachelor of Science degree from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Chris is currently an Assistant Professor of Vocal Music at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN.
Operatic Repertoire
Britten
Albert Herring – Albert Herring
Captain Vere – Billy Budd
Lysander/Flute – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Male Chorus – The Rape of Lucretia
Peter Grimes – Peter Grimes
Peter Quint – Turn of the Screw*
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex – Gloriana
Bernstein
Candide – Candide
Celebrant – Mass
Debussy
Pelléas – Pelléas et Mélisande
Donizetti
Arturo – Lucia di Lammermoor*
Nemorino – L’Elisir D’Amore
Gluck
Pylade – Iphigénie en Tauride
Handel
Acis – Acis and Galatea
Bajazet – Tamerlano
Grimoaldo – Rodelinda
Hyllus – Hercules
Jupiter – Semele
Oronte – Alcina
Lehár
Danilo – Die lustige Witwe
Monteverdi
Lucano/Liberto – L’Incoronazione di Poppea
Orfeo – L’Orfeo
Mozart
Belmonte – Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Pedrillo – Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Ferrando – Così fan tutte
Don Ottavio – Don Giovanni
Tamino – Die Zauberflöte*
Tito – La Clemenza di Tito
Poulenc
Chevalier de la Force – Dialogues des Carmélites
Purcell
Aeneas – Dido and Aeneas
Various Roles – The Fairy Queen
Rameau
Pigmalion – Pigmalion
Valere/Damon – Les Indes Galantes
J. Strauss
Eisenstein – Die Fledermaus
Stravinsky
Tom Rakewell – The Rake’s Progress
Tchaikovsky
Lenski – Eugene Onegin
Weber
Oberon – Oberon*
* denotes live performance
repertoire listed above is suggested for future engagement
Oratorio, Concert, and Song Repertoire
Argento
Six Elizabethan Songs
Aucoin
Merrill Songs
J.S. Bach
Cantatas (Various Sacred and Secular) – Soloist
Christmas Oratorio – Evangelist and Arias
Magnificat – Soloist
Mass in B Minor – Soloist
St. John Passion – Evangelist and Arias
St. Matthew Passion – Evangelist and Arias
C.P.E. Bach
Magnificat – Soloist
St. Matthew Passion – Soloist
Barber
Hermit Songs
Beethoven
An die Ferne Geliebte
Missa Solemnis – Soloist
Berlioz
L’Enfance du Christ – Narrator
Les Nuits D’Été
Bonds
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand
Brahms
Liebeslieder Waltzes
Fünf Lieder, Op. 47
Selected Songs
Britten
The Burning Fiery Furnace – Nebuchadnezzar/Misael
Cantata Misericordium – Soloist
Canticles I, II, III – Soloist
Curlew River – Madwoman
Folksong Arrangements
Les Illuminations – Soloist
Nocturne – Soloist
The Prodigal Son – Tempter/Younger Son
Henry Purcell Realizations
Rejoice in the Lamb – Soloist
Saint Nicholas – Saint Nicolas
Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings – Soloist
Three Songs from The Heart of the Matter
War Requiem – Soloist
Winter Words
Brubeck
La Fiesta de la Posada
Charpentier
Messe de Minuit pour Nöel
Cimara
Fiocca la Neve
Cipullo
Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House
The Land of Nod
Late Summer
Long Island Songs
Rain
Debussy
Fêtes Galantes Books I and II
Selected Songs
Dowland
Can She Excuse My Wrongs
Come Again, Sweet Love
Come, Heavy Sleep
I Saw My Lady Weep
Duparc
Phydilé
Selected Songs
Elgar
Ave Verum Corpus
The Dream of Gerontius – Gerontius
Fauré
La Bonne Chanson
Selected Songs
Finzi
Dies Natalis – Soloist
Farewell to Arms – Soloist
Intimations of Immortality – Soloist
Oh Fair to See
Till Earth Outwears
Giannini
Tell Me, Oh Blue, Blue Sky
Ginastera
Cinco canciones populares argentinas
Gurney
By a Bierside
Down by the Salley Gardens
Even Such is Time
Five Elizabethan Songs
In Flanders
Severn Meadows
Hagen
Blake Songs
Figments
Four Dickinson Songs
Muldoon Songs
Songs of Madness and Sorrow
Hahn
L’heure Exquise
Selected Songs
Handel
Alexander’s Feast – Soloist
Athalia – Mathan
Israel in Egypt – Soloist
Jephtha – Jephtha
Joshua – Joshua
Judas Maccabeus – Judas Maccabeus
Look down, Harmonious Saint – Soloist
The Messiah – Soloist
Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day – Soloist
La Resurrezione – St. John
Samson – Samson
Saul – Jonathan
Theodora – Septimius
Haydn
Lord Nelson Mass – Soloist
The Creation – Uriel
The Seasons – Soloist
Heggie
Friendly Persuasions: Homage to Poulenc
Here and Gone
Hoiby
Selected Songs
Hundley
Come Ready and See Me
Ives
Selected Songs
Janáček
The Diary of One who Disappeared
Johnson
Ride on, King Jesus
Larsen
My Ántonia
Mendelssohn
Elijah – Obadiah
Herbstlied
St. Paul – Soloist
Messiaen
La mort du nombre – Soloist
Monteverdi
Selections from Scherzi musicali
Vespro della Beata Vergine – Soloist
Zefiro Torna – Soloist
Moore
Dear Theo
Mozart
Abendempfindung
An Chloe
Mass in C minor – Soloist
Requiem – Soloist
Vesperae solennes de confessore – Soloist
Poulenc
Chansons villageoises
Le travail du peintre
Tel jour telle nuit
Selected Songs
Purcell
How pleasant is this flowery plain
The Witch of Endor
Ravel
Cinq Melodies Populaires Grecques
Respighi
Notte
Rorem
Selected Songs
Saint-Saëns
Oratorio de Noël– Soloist
Schubert
Auf dem Strom
Schwanengesang
Selected Songs
Winterreise
Schumann
Dichterliebe
Liederkreis Op. 24
Liederkreis Op. 39
Selected Songs
Sisco
Dear God
Missed Connections
Two Shakespeare Songs
Thomson
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
Vaughan Williams
Along the Field
On Wenlock Edge
Songs of Travel
Ten Blake Songs
Wolf
Italian Songbook
Spanish Songbook
Selected Songs set to Goethe and Mörike texts
repertoire listed above is suggested for future engagement
Teaching
With more than a decade of experience, Christopher is a dedicated artist-teacher who educates and guides the student’s technical skill development and artistic growth according to their individual needs. He first served as a graduate teaching assistant at SUNY Stony Brook before joining their adjunct voice faculty. During his studies at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Christopher worked in the same capacity, sharing responsibility for auditioning, coordinating, and teaching the undergraduate applied voice program curricula and opera workshop classes. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at the collegiate level, Christopher has opened and managed successful private voice studios while based in Las Vegas, Long Island, NY, and currently in Cookeville, TN, where he is an Assistant Professor of Vocal Music at Tennessee Technological University. His young adult and adult students actively thrive in their local musical communities, excel at state and regional level competitions, and have continued their studies at prestigious American universities and graduate music programs. Christopher’s personal singing philosophy and teaching style stem from the training received from influential pedagogues Randall Scarlata, Tod Fitzpatrick, and Arnold Epley. He has worked with world-class artists such as: Lydia Brown, Margo Garrett, Warren Jones, Martin Katz, Carol Kimball, George Manahan, Alan Louis Smith, Paul Sperry, Sanford Sylvan, Dawn Upshaw, and Roger Vignoles in private coachings or masterclass settings. If you are interested in having Christopher give a masterclass or private voice lessons, please see CONTACT.
Media
Photo
The Turn of the Screw
Audio
Video
Haydn’s The Creation. Mark Ball conducts the Village Presbyterian Church Choir and Orchestra along with the William Jewell College Concert Choir and the UMKC Concert Choir in Helzberg Hall of The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Introduction and Aria of Gerald Finzi’s Farewell to Arms. Members of the Three Village Chamber Ensemble conducted by Marek Rachelski at the Staller Center for the Arts Recital Hall.
Contact
Call
(816) 699-2010
Locate
463 West Broadway
Port Jefferson, NY 11777
ReamesCC@gmail.com