Russell Braun, baritone

One of the most sought-after lyric baritones on the international stage today, Russell Braun performs regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, l'Opéra de Paris, the San Diego Opera, the San Francisco Opera and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.

The 2005-2006 season begins with a much-anticipated recital of Die Winterreise in Toronto at which his new recording will be released. Next he makes his debut at La Scala in the title role in Pélleas and Mélisande, then to Canada and the Messiah with the Kitchener-Waterloo Choir. He begins and continues 2006with concerts and operas honouring the 250th Anniversary of Mozart's birth. June will take Mr. Braun back to the Paris for performances of Iphégenie en Tauride and Dido and Aeneas.

Russell Braun's 2004-2005 season featured debuts as both Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and the title role of Eugene Onegin. The summer of 2005 saw him return to the Oregon Bach Festival as well as the Salzburg Festival as Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte.

He has had critically acclaimed debuts in the title roles of Billy Budd with the Canadian Opera Company, in the Chicago Lyric Opera's production of The Great Gatsby, and in a new Hamburg production of Pelléas and Mélisande directed by Willy Decker.

In much demand as a concert artist, Mr. Braun has performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy in Québec City. He has performed with many of the world's leading conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Sylvain Cambreling, James Conlon, Bruno Campanella, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Richard Bradshaw and Bernard Labadie, appearing with major orchestras in Europe, Canada and the United States.