Jason Barry-Smith
Encyclopedia
Jason Barry-Smith is an Australia
n opera
tic baritone
, vocal coach, composer and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland
, The Queensland Orchestra, Seven Network
, and the Queensland Youth Choir
.
, Queensland
, is a former student of Kedron State High School
. He graduated with a Medal of Excellence from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1991. He later studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
with Professor Hanno Blaschke during 1989/90 and later in London
with Janice Chapman in 1999 and in Rome
with Margaret Baker-Genovesi in 2002.
, in 2001 he won Opera Foundation Australia’s Italian Opera Award, and for the first five months of 2002 he was resident at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, Italy.
’s Requiem
(Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
), Haydn
's Paukenmesse
(Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra), Bach’s
St John Passion
(Brisbane Chorale), Nigel Butterley
's Lawrence Hargrave Flying Alone (Sydney Symphony), Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio
and Purcell
's Ode to St Cecilia’s Day
(Bach Society of Queensland), and as the baritone soloist in the Australian composer's Richard Mills
2001 work, Symphonic Poems.
. Other roles include:
Festival with Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
in which he also sang the role of Æneas; this production won him the Perform 4MBS Award for Opera Production. Barry-Smith works as vocal coach and musical director of the Queensland Youth Choir
. Together with Narelle French, Opera Queensland's Head of Music, Barry-Smith devised several touring productions for Opera Queensland, notably The Food of Love which ran for several years since 2004, and in 2009 Waltzing Our Matilda, co-written with his wife Leisa Barry-Smith. In 2008 he re-mounted Opera Queensland's production of Hansel and Gretel for its tour of 83 schools through Queensland and northern New South Wales
. He teaches Musical Theatre/Voice at the University of Southern Queensland
's Summer Schools and voice at Queensland Conservatorium's Opera school.
In August 2008 Barry-Smith was appointed Artistic Director of The Queensland Youth Choir,
and in October 2008 was appointed as director of Opera Queensland's Young and Developing Artists Program.
DVD
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, vocal coach, composer and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...
, The Queensland Orchestra, Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, and the Queensland Youth Choir
Queensland Youth Choir
Robert Clark founded the Queensland Youth Choir in 1984, originally as a training program for young singers. The choir has since evolved into four performance choirs: Poco Voci, StellaVoce, Vivace Voices and VoiceWorks...
.
Education
Barry-Smith, born in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, is a former student of Kedron State High School
Kedron State High School
Kedron State High School is a Queensland public secondary school which is located in the inner-northern suburb of Wooloowin in Brisbane, Australia....
. He graduated with a Medal of Excellence from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1991. He later studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
The Hochschule für Musik und Theater München is one of the most respected traditional vocational universities in Germany specialising in music and the performing arts. The seat of the Hochschule is the former Führerbau of the NSDAP, located at Arcisstraße 12, on the eastern side of the Königsplatz...
with Professor Hanno Blaschke during 1989/90 and later in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Janice Chapman in 1999 and in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with Margaret Baker-Genovesi in 2002.
Awards
Barry-Smith has received numerous accolades; in 1992 he won the Marianne Mathy Scholarship (The Mathy) in the Australian Singing CompetitionAustralian Singing Competition
The Australian Singing Competition evolved from the Marianne Mathy Scholarship, established in 1982 through a bequest made in the will of Marianne Mathy-Frisdane, a coloratura soprano opera singer and distinguished teacher of opera and classical singing....
, in 2001 he won Opera Foundation Australia’s Italian Opera Award, and for the first five months of 2002 he was resident at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, Italy.
Concert experience
As a concert soloist, Barry-Smith has performed in FauréGabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
’s Requiem
Requiem (Fauré)
Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral–orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu...
(Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
), Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's Paukenmesse
Missa in tempore belli
Missa in tempore belli is Joseph Haydn’s tenth, and one of the most popular, of his fourteen settings of the mass.This mass is catalogued Mass No. 10 in C major, , and is sometimes known as the Paukenmesse due to the inclusion of the timpani in its orchestration...
(Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra), Bach’s
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
St John Passion
Johannes Passion
The St John Passion , BWV 245, is a sacred oratorio of Johann Sebastian Bach from the Passions. The original Latin title Passio secundum Johannem translates to "The Suffering According to John" and is rendered in English also as St. John Passion and in German as Johannespassion...
(Brisbane Chorale), Nigel Butterley
Nigel Butterley
Nigel Henry Cockburn Butterley AM is an Australian composer and pianist.-Life and career:Butterley learnt to play the piano at the age of five. He attended Sydney Grammar School, but as music wasn't taught at the school at that time, he also sought training from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music....
's Lawrence Hargrave Flying Alone (Sydney Symphony), Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
and Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's Ode to St Cecilia’s Day
Ode to St. Cecilia (Purcell)
Hail! Bright Cecilia , also known as Ode to St. Cecilia, was composed to a text by Nicholas Brady by Henry Purcell in 1692 in honour of the feast day of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians. Annual celebrations of this saint's feast day began in 1683, organized by the Musical Society of...
(Bach Society of Queensland), and as the baritone soloist in the Australian composer's Richard Mills
Richard Mills
Richard John Mills AM, DMus BA Qld, is an Australian conductor and composer. He currently works as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera and Artistic Consultant with Orchestra Victoria...
2001 work, Symphonic Poems.
Stage roles
While still studying at the Queensland Conservatorium, he performed the title role in the Australian premiere of Billy BuddBilly Budd (opera)
Billy Budd is an opera by Benjamin Britten, from a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, was first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 1 December 1951. It is based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville....
. Other roles include:
- Enjolras in Les MisérablesLes Misérables (musical)Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
for the Wellington Operatic Society - Major General Stanley in The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, the Boatswain in H.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
, Danilo in The Merry WidowThe Merry WidowThe Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
all for Essgee Melodies - King Melchior in Amahl and the Night VisitorsAmahl and the Night VisitorsAmahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
for the National Trust of Queensland - Nardo in La finta giardinieraLa finta giardinieraLa finta giardiniera , K. 196, is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on January 13 at the Salvatortheater in Munich...
for the Brisbane Biennial - Escamillo in Carmen for Lyric Opera 21, Belfast
- Marullo in RigolettoRigolettoRigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
for OzOperaOpera AustraliaOpera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne... - Mathieu in Andrea ChénierAndrea ChénierAndrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
and Belcore in L'elisir d'amoreL'elisir d'amoreL'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
for The State Opera of South Australia - Geoffrey in Lawrence Hargrave Flying Alone for the Sydney Symphony
- Mamoud in John Adams' The Death of KlinghofferThe Death of KlinghofferThe Death of Klinghoffer is an American opera, with music by John Adams to an English-language libretto by Alice Goodman. First produced in Brussels and New York in 1991, the opera is based on the hijacking of the passenger liner Achille Lauro by the Palestine Liberation Front in 1985, and the...
for the New Zealand Symphony OrchestraNew Zealand Symphony OrchestraThe New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players.... - Morales and Dancairo in Carmen, the title role of Don GiovanniDon GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, for which he won a National Opera Award, Eisenstein and Dr Falke in Die FledermausDie FledermausDie Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
, Yamadori in Madama ButterflyMadama ButterflyMadama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, the title role of The Barber of SevilleThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
, Guglielmo in Così fan tutteCosì fan tutteCosì fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
, Papageno in The Magic FluteThe Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, Dandini in La CenerentolaLa CenerentolaLa Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
, Christiano in Un ballo in mascheraUn ballo in mascheraUn ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, Dr Malatesta in Don PasqualeDon PasqualeDon Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
, Schaunard in La bohèmeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, and Mercutio in Roméo et JulietteRoméo et JulietteRoméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
: all for Opera QueenslandOpera QueenslandOpera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...
. - Created the roles of Julian in Quartet by Anthony Richie and Samuel in Electric Lenin by Barry ConynghamBarry ConynghamEmeritus Professor Barry Conyngham AM is an Australian composer and academic. He has over seventy published works and over thirty recordings featuring his compositions, and his works have been premiered or performed in Australia, Japan, North and South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. His...
.
Directing
Barry-Smith made his directorial debut at the 2001 4MBS4MBS
4MBS Classic FM is a Brisbane community radio station that broadcasts classical music, jazz and nostalgia throughout South East Queensland. It is broadcast at a frequency of 103.7 MHz....
Festival with Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid...
in which he also sang the role of Æneas; this production won him the Perform 4MBS Award for Opera Production. Barry-Smith works as vocal coach and musical director of the Queensland Youth Choir
Queensland Youth Choir
Robert Clark founded the Queensland Youth Choir in 1984, originally as a training program for young singers. The choir has since evolved into four performance choirs: Poco Voci, StellaVoce, Vivace Voices and VoiceWorks...
. Together with Narelle French, Opera Queensland's Head of Music, Barry-Smith devised several touring productions for Opera Queensland, notably The Food of Love which ran for several years since 2004, and in 2009 Waltzing Our Matilda, co-written with his wife Leisa Barry-Smith. In 2008 he re-mounted Opera Queensland's production of Hansel and Gretel for its tour of 83 schools through Queensland and northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He teaches Musical Theatre/Voice at the University of Southern Queensland
University of Southern Queensland
The University of Southern Queensland is based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The institution was established in 1967 as the Queensland Institute of Technology...
's Summer Schools and voice at Queensland Conservatorium's Opera school.
In August 2008 Barry-Smith was appointed Artistic Director of The Queensland Youth Choir,
and in October 2008 was appointed as director of Opera Queensland's Young and Developing Artists Program.
Recording
CD- Something to Sing About (1985) with the Queensland Youth ChoirQueensland Youth ChoirRobert Clark founded the Queensland Youth Choir in 1984, originally as a training program for young singers. The choir has since evolved into four performance choirs: Poco Voci, StellaVoce, Vivace Voices and VoiceWorks...
- Encore (1992) with Vocalpoint
- Misa Criolla – Ariel RamírezAriel RamirezAriel Ramírez was an Argentine composer, pianist and music director. He was considered "a chief exponent of Argentine folk music" and noted for his "iconic" musical compositions....
(2005) with the Queensland Youth Choir - Songs of Inspiration (2007) ABC Classics 476 6159
- Colours of Christmas (2007) with the Queensland Youth Choir
DVD
- The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
(1994) ABC Video R-14653-9 - The MikadoThe MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
(1996) - H.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. PinaforeH.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
– Boatswain (1997)