West Bay Opera

Brian Staufenbiel

Brian Staufenbiel, tenor and director, has gained considerable recognition and critical acclaim for his performances in opera, oratorio, and solo recitals in the USA and Canada. He has appeared at the Boston Early Music Festival with the Publick Musick Ensemble and the Rochester Bach Festival in New York state, where he received critical praise for his performance as the Evangelist in Bach's Saint John Passion. Some of Staufenbiel's more recent opera performances include leading tenor roles in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias, Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, and Kurt Weill's Absteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.

In addition to live performances, Mr. Staufenbiel has recorded music by Heinrich Schütz and Alessandro Stradella for the Musical Heritage Society, Koch International Classics, and Helicon Records. As an avid exponent of twentieth-century vocal music, he has also recorded works by Lou Harrison, Paul Bowles, and Henri Collet. His great love of art song has led him to perform dozens of solo recitals in various concert series across the American continent.

Staufenbiel holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. He is on the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he teaches voice and co-directs the opera program. Staufenbiel is frequently invited to host masterclasses in voice and maintains an extensive private studio in addition to his University work.

22 Jan 2001