Jake Gardner
as Baron Scarpia

Jake Gardner, bass-baritone

Boasting a career which includes performances with major opera companies and orchestras throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, bass-baritone Jake Gardner remains one of the opera world's most sought-after singing actors.

In the 2008-09 season Jake Gardner sings DeBritigny in Manon for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Scarpia in Tosca for Mercury Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly for Florida Grand Opera, and as soloist in Messiah with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Gardner's 2007-08 season included performances of Baron Zehta in The Merry Widow with Los Angeles Opera and the roles of Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Fredrik in Sondheim's A Little Night Music at Hawaii Opera Theatre. He also joined the roster of San Francisco Opera. In the summer of 2007 he returned to Glimmerglass Opera as Jupiter in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.

Other recent highlights on the operatic stage include the role of Horace Tabor in Central City Opera's historic revival production of The Ballad of Baby Doe, Sharpless in Renata Scotto's production of Madama Butterfly with Palm Beach Opera, and multiple appearances with Hawaii Opera Theatre, including both Michele and Gianni Schicchi in Il trittico as well as Scarpia in Tosca. Mr. Gardner also sang Scarpia in his recent debut with Syracuse Opera and sang Sharpless with Cleveland Opera, New York City Opera, and Mercury Opera in Rochester, New York. In addition, he toured in Japan as Gideon with New York City Opera's production of Little Women.

Jake Gardner's international career spans most of Europe having begun as the principal baritone at Oper Köln in Germany where he appeared in a vast number of operas including the title roles in Don Giovanni and Gianni Schicchi, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, Germont in La traviata, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, to name a few. While in Cologne he appeared in Shostakovich's The Nose in a new production directed by Harry Kupfer. He has sung Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Deutsche Oper am Rhein as well as performed in a new production of the same opera directed by Trevor Nunn at the Glyndebourne Festival under the baton of Simon Rattle. Other international opera credits include Baron Valdeburgo in the Robert Carson production of Bellini's La straniera at the Wexford Festival, Escamillo in Carmen with the Budapest Festival, and Dr. Kolenaty in The Makropoulos Case with Aix-en Provence Festival. His debut at Théâtre du Châtelet was in a production of Billy Budd conducted by Jeffrey Tate and his Komische Oper Berlin debut was as Ford in a new production of Falstaff. He has also performed in Bonn, Dresden, Vienna, and the Netherlands, and has toured extensively as Escamillo in Peter Brook's La Tragedie di Carmen.

North American career highlights include Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with San Francisco Opera; Jules Goddard in the premiere of Bolcom's A Wedding at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Count in Le nozze di Figaro, and Publio in La clemenza di Tito at New York City Opera; Ashby in La fanciulla del West, Marquis de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Gideon in Little Women with Glimmerglass Opera; Lockit in A Beggar's Opera and Albert in the premiere of Hans-Jurgen von Bose's Die Lieden des jungen Werther with Santa Fe Opera; Musiklehrer in Ariadne auf Naxos with Colorado Opera; and Slim in Of Mice and Men with both Vancouver Opera and Cleveland Opera. Mr. Gardner also appeared with the San Diego Opera in gala performances of Die Fledermaus with Dame Joan Sutherland. His Lincoln Center debut was in a nationally televised "Live from Lincoln Center" concert with Dame Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, and Luciano Pavarotti. He appeared twice in the same season at Carnegie Hall in concert performances of Massenet's Le Cid with Placido Domingo and Grace Bumbry which was recorded live by CBS/SONY.

Mr. Gardner also enjoys a successful career of concert performances including Mahler's Das klagende Lied with the New York Philharmonic under James Conlon and Janacek's Glagolitic Mass with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. He sang again later with Maestro Rattle in a concert performance of Le nozze di Figaro with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He sang the role of Wotan in Jonathan Dove's arrangement of Das Rheingold directed by Christopher Alden with the EOS Orchestra. He appeared with the Mostly Mozart Festival to sing Mozart's Thamos, King of Egypt and later returned for performances of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. Mr. Gardner appeared as soloist in the Proms to perform an evening of music by Kurt Weill and his contemporaries and gave a much-acclaimed Lincoln Center performance of Handel's Saul which he later repeated at the San Antonio Festival.

In addition to the CBS/SONY recording of his "Live at Lincoln Center" concert, Mr. Gardner can be heard on a recording by BMG of Thea Musgrave's Mary, Queen of Scots which he also performed at the San Francisco Opera, Scottish Opera, Edinburgh Festival, Stuttgart Opera, and Virginia Opera. Another Musgrave work, the premiere of Incident at Owl Creek, was broadcast over BBC and subsequently aired throughout the United States on National Public Radio. He may also be seen in the original 1983 released film version of Peter Brook's La Tragedie de Carmen and on the CD entitled Afrika Songs composed by Wilhelm Gross with the Matrix Ensemble conducted by Robert Ziegler.

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