Benjamin Brecher

Bio

Operatic and Concert tenor Benjamin Brecher has performed 70 operatic roles with more with than forty orchestras at some of the world’s most prestigious
venues specializing in the high lying lyric tenor repertoire. A native of Toledo Ohio, he grew up in a music loving household that often attended symphonic and opera performances. He began formal music training as a classical guitarist at 8 followed by the trumpet at age 10. He studied voice at Bowling Green State University, New England Conservatory of Music, and the Juilliard Opera Center. After making his professional debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis in Colin Graham’s production of Billy Budd, he quickly began winning engagements in the US and abroad. He has performed fifteen roles with The New York City Opera alone. In the fall of 2000, Benjamin won in audition with the Indianapolis Symphony to perform the great Irish tenor repertoire in a concert entitled “A Celtic Celebration”, under Maestro Jack Everly. Mr. Brecher has gone on to perform that concert with over 40 symphonies in North America to date, and it is still being sought after. In addition to the Irish Concerts, he has performed solo oratorio repertoire including, Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carmina Burana, and many other works. Mr. Brecher has twelve recordings including The Barber of Seville with The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and the 2010 release of Bernstein’s Candide recorded live in Rome, along with two live PBS concerts from Carnegie Hall: Ira Gershwin at 100 and The Music of Lerner and Lowe. His 2016 recording “Forgotten Liszt” with Robert Koenig, piano, on MSR Classics has already received glowing reviews. Recent engagements include performances at the Ravinia Festival with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra; the world premiere of the opera Shot! the story of the assassination of President McKinley in Buffalo and Dayton; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Gerald in Lakmé with California Opera, Fresno; Holiday Pops concerts with The Jacksonville Symphony; and a live recital broadcast on Radio France. In 2018-19 he returned to “A Celtic Celebration” in Baltimore, Fresno for Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, and Manon, Eugene Enegin, and Madama Butterfly, The Crucible, La Traviata with Opera Santa Barbara as well as a ten city US and European tour featuring his “Forgotten Liszt” repertoire. 2023 brings his thirteenth recording “Three Centuries of Thomas Moore” on MSR Classics, featuring the music of Britten, Berlioz, and a world premiere recording of “Breathed Back Again” by Sarah Gibson. Benjamin currently is a Professor of Voice at the University of California Santa Barbara.