Richard Ziebarth Bass Baritone
At home in almost every music performance venue, Bass Baritone Richard Ziebarth has gained attention for the warm timbre of his large voice and consummate musicality. Whether in demanding opera roles such as, Don Giovanni, Figaro and Escamillo, Concert, Oratorio or musical theatre, he imbues every performance with lyricism and informed musicianship. Mr. Ziebarth was heard as special guest soloist in Princeton Pro Musica s season opening gala The Grandeur of Opera. He made his debut with Philadelphia s Center City Opera Theatre as Basil Hallward in the world premiere chamber version of Lowell Liebermann s much acclaimed opera The Picture of Dorian Gray based on the Oscar Wilde masterpiece. A full scholarship graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University, Mr. Ziebarth began his professional career while still in school. For three years he sang with the Opera Theatre of Lucca in Italy. With CCPA s Opera Theatre he performed a variety of concert repertoire and stage roles. Recent performance highlights include appearances with Palm Beach Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Sarasota Opera and Light Opera Works. Mr. Ziebarth participated in both Sarasota and Chautauqua apprentice programs and was a member of the Alan Stone Debut Artists at Chicago Opera Theatre and as such was featured on WFMT Radio s Live From Studio One. Mr. Ziebarth has appeared with the Denver, Elgin, and Crystal Lake Symphony Orchestras and was a soloist in the Millennium Gala Concert in St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands. He has a wide variety of oratorio experience, including Hayden s Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart s Requiem, Handel s Messiah, Mendelssohn s Elijah and Paulus and Bach s Mass in b minor. He is always in demand as soloist for the Beethoven Ninth Symphony. Professionally trained as a competitive figure skater, Richard Ziebarth is a double gold medalist for United States Figure Skating. His discipline and athleticism are manifest in a commanding stage presence and elegant demeanor. Every performance crackles with charisma and sparkles with personality.
PRESS ACCLAIM As Elijah in Mendelssohn s Elijah: Hot Springs Music Festival Bass-Baritone Richard Ziebarth, a favorite of past festivals, filled the hall as the prophet Elijah, God s Baalbondsman, who has sealed the heavens, imposing a severe and lengthy drought as a penalty for King Ahab and the people of Israel turning to idol worship and away from the Lord. Ziebarth was equally at ease thundering against Ahab, mocking the false priests and practically weeping with frustration in the oratorio s most famous aria It is enough. As Escamillo in Carmen: Houston Opera in the Heights Eric E. Harrison Arkansas Democrat Gazette June 14, 2011 macho bullfighter Escamillo (Rick Ziebarth), is just as athletic, jumping off the table during his Toreador Song and landing downstage, vaulting over the steps and plopping squarely in front of the proscenium. As Soloist in Beethoven s Symphony No. 9: Hot Springs Music Festival D. L. Groover Houston Press October 2007 The choir, combining the forces of the Festival Chorus and the Plano (Texas) Civic Chorus, was simply awesome in the choral finale, and the solo quartet, particularly Bass-Baritone Richard Ziebarth were superb. Eric E. Harrison Arkansas Democrat Gazette - June 18, 2006 DISCOGRAPHY Louis Moreau Gottschalk Complete Works for Orchestra Escenas Campestres Cubanas: Naxos American Classics, 8.559320
PERFORMANCES IN OPERA (1996 to present) Escamillo The Tragedy of Carmen Hot Springs Music Festival Scarpia Tosca Houston Opera in the Heights Basil Howard The Picture of Dorian Gray Center City Opera Theater Escamillo Carmen Houston Opera in the Heights Don Basilio Il Barbiere di Siviglia Palm Beach Opera Pistola Falstaff Chautauqua Opera Mikado (cover) Mikado Chautauqua Opera Luther (cover) Les Contes d Hoffman Sarasota Opera Escamillo Carmen Valhalla Opera Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi Roosevelt University Bob Old Maid and the Thief 19 th Century Women s Club Tancredi Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda Chicago Baroque Ensemble Don Giovanni Don Giovanni American Opera Company Figaro Le Nozze di Figaro Roosevelt University The King Love for Three Oranges Opera Theater of Lucca, Italy Pasquariello Don Giovanni (Gazzaniga) Opera Theater of Lucca, Italy Grandpa The Tender Land Roosevelt University Bob Old Maid and the Thief Door County Opera Claudio Peccati di Vecchiezza Opera Theater of Lucca, Italy Jove Il Pomo d Oro Roosevelt University ` Guglielmo Cosi Fan Tutte Roosevelt University Manuel La Vida Breve Opera Factory Don Giovanni Don Giovanni San Benedetto Opera William Emmons The Village Singer San Benedetto Opera Lucas The Student Prince Light Opera Works Silvio I Pagliacci San Benedetto Opera
CONCERT & ORATORIO EXPERIENCE (1996 to present) Soloist Hodie Vaughn Williams Voices in Harmony, Crystal Lake Symphony Soloist Elijah Mendelssohn Hot Springs Music Festival Recitalist From Opera to Broadway St. Philip Concert Series Soloist Bernstein on Broadway Phoenix Symphony Orchestra Soloist Cabaret Concerts Hot Springs Music Festival Soloist The Creation Haydn Hot Springs Music Festival Soloist The Grandeur of Opera Princeton Pro Musica Guest Artist Hot Springs Music Festival The Sorcerer in World Premier of Cole Porter s Aladdin The Baritone in the Modern Premier of Gottschalk s Escenas Campestres Cubanas (Cuban Country Scenes) Bass Soloist in Mahler s arrangement of Beethoven s Symphony No. 9 Recitalist Alan Stone Debut Artists Chicago Opera Theater on WFMT Radio Soloist Symphony No. 9-Beethoven Denver Symphony Orchestra Soloist Millennium Gala Concert St. Croix US VI Soloist A Night at the Opera Elgin Symphony Orchestra Recitalist =various= Chicago Fine Arts Society Soloist The Creation - Haydn Crystal Lake Symphony Soloist Requiem Mozart Crystal Lake Symphony Soloist Messiah Handel Crystal Lake Symphony Soloist Lord Nelson Mass Haydn Roosevelt University Elijah Elijah Mendelssohn St. Philip Concert Series Soloist Mass in b minor J. S. Bach St. Philip Concert Series Soloist The Creation Haydn St. Philip Concert Series Soloist Paulus Mendelssohn St. Philip Concert Series CONCERT & ORATORIO EXPERIENCE J.S. Bach Beethoven Brahms Delius Dubois Faure Handel Haydn Mass in b minor Christmas Oratorio St. John Passion St. Matthew Passion Magnificat Easter Oratorio Missa Solemnis Symphony No. 9 Deutsches Requiem Sea Drift Songs of Sunset Seven Last Words Requiem Messiah The Creation
Lord Nelson Mass Mendelssohn Elijah Paulus Mozart Requiem Coronation Mass Vesperae Solennes di Confessore Rossini Messa di Gloria Petite Messe Solenne Stabat Mater Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs Verdi Messa da Requiem APPRENTICE PROGRAMS
Chautauqua Opera Sarasota Opera Alan Stone Debut Artists of the Chicago Opera Theater EDUCATION B.M. Voice Performance Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University VOICE TEACHERS Samuel Ramey (present) Metropolitan Opera Richard Stilwell (present) Metropolitan Opera Giorgio Tozzi - Metropolitan Opera Andrew Schultze Elizabeth Fischer Monastero COACHES Donna Brunsma Lyric Opera of Chicago Giulio Favario Lyric Opera of Chicago Lorenzo Malfatti Martin Katz Ken Smith ACTING STUDIES Peter Amster Roosevelt University Sheila Saperstein Northwestern University OPERA AND OPERETTA REPERTOIRES
Bellini I Capuleti e I Montecchi Fra Lorenzo Norma Oroveso Puritani Giorgio Valton Berlioz La Damnation de Faust Mephistopheles Bizet Carmen Escamillo The Tragedy of Carmen Escamillo Blitzstein Regina Horace Giddens Boito Mefistofele Mefistofele Copland The Tender Land Grandpa Donizetti La Filla du Regiment Sulpice L Elisir D Amore Dulcamara Lucia di Lammermoor Raimondo Anna Bolena Enrico VIII Don Pasquale Don Pasquale Floyd Susannah Blitch Gazzaniga Don Giovanni Pasquariello Gounod Faust Mephistopheles Handel Semele Somnus Ariodante Re di Scozia Armida Idreno Massenet Don Quichotte Don Quichotte Sancho Panza Manon Des Grieux Meyerbeer Robert le Diable Bertram Moore The Ballad of Baby Doe Horace Tabor Mozart Cosi fan Tutte Guglielmo Don Alfonso Don Giovanni Don Giovanni Leporello Le Nozze di Figaro Figaro Die Zauberflote Papageno Offenbach Les Contes D Hoffmann Four Villians Luther Puccini La Boheme Colline Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi Tosca Scarpia Purcell The Tempest First Devil Rossini Il Barbiere di Seviglia Basilio La Donna del Lago Douglas La Gazza Ladra Il Podesta L Inganno Felice Batone L Italiana in Algeri Mustafa Maometto Secondo Maometto Semiramide Assur Il Signor Bruschino Gaudenzio
Il Turco in Italia Selim Il Viaggo a Reims Lord Sidney Stravinsky The Rakes Progress Nick Shadow Sullivan Mikado Mikado Verdi Falstaff Pistola Macbeth Banco Oberto Oberto Il Trovatore Ferrando Wagner Tannhauser Wolfram Weil Street Scene Frank Maurrant MUSICAL THEATER REPERTOIRE Various Shows and Songs by Berlin, Leigh, Lerner & Loewe, Gershwin, Porter and Rodgers & Hammerstein FILM WORK Featured Skater (uncredited) The Weather Man (2005) Directed by Gore Verbinski VOICE OVER WORK Radio & Video Promotion for St. Philip Lutheran School, Chicago, Illinois AWARDS AND PRIZES Winner The MacDowell Society Voice Competition Full Scholarship Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University Finalist Metropolitan Opera Auditions Career Grant Chicago Fine Arts Society Grand Prize Winner Bel Canto Foundation Competition OTHER PROFESSIONAL ENDEAVORS ATHLETICS Double Gold Medalist (1988) United States Figure Skating National Competitor United States Figure Skating Nutcracker Prince The Nutcracker on Ice Robert Crown Center, Evanston, Illinois Figure Skating Professional (1991-present) Robert Crown Center, Evanston, Illinois Full member Professional Skaters Association WRITING How is Rhythm Taught in the Other Arts? Keyboard Companion, Winter 1998, Vol. 9, #4, pages 30-32