Recent operatic roles include Steffani Orlando Generoso (Ruggiero) for the Boston Early Music Festival, directed by Stephen Stubbs and Paul O’Dette, the world premiere of a 17th-century work by Legrenzi, La Divisione del Mondo (Marte) for Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy, Handel Theodora (Didymus) with Potsdamer Winteroper, Handel Arminio (title role) for the Göttingen Handel Festival, Handel Rinaldo (Argante) with Kammerorchester Basel at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Halle Handel Festival, and St Martinskirche in Basel, Handel Orlando (Medoro) with La Nuova Musica at St John’s Smith Square London, Christopher’s English National Opera debut in both Handel Rodelinda (Unulfo) and Muhly Marnie (Terry, cover), Handel Tamerlano (title role) with Les Talens Lyriques for Ambronay Festival, and Dean Hamlet (Guildenstern) for the Adelaide Festival.
Recent concert appearances include a tour of Pergolesi Stabat Mater with superstar French soprano Sandrine Piau and Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset, which will also be released as a recording later this year, a North American and European tour of Handel Semele (Athamus) with The English Concert directed by Harry Bicket, culminating in Christopher’s Carnegie Hall debut, Bach St John Passion with Le Banquet Céleste, directed by Damien Guillon, a Bach and Vivaldi programme in Hong Kong with British group Arcangelo, directed by Jonathan Cohen, Bach Cantatas at the Philharmonie de Paris with Ensemble Pygmalion, Handel Messiah with Clare College Choir at Union Chapel London, and Bach B Minor Mass at Winchester College, Handel Israel in Egypt at the BBC Proms with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by William Christie, Bach St Matthew Passion for the London Handel Festival, Falvetti Il Diluvio Universale (La giustizia divina) and Nabucco (Arioco) with Cappella Mediterranea, and solo recitals with Voices of Music in San Francisco and Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble in Boston.
His growing catalogue of recordings includes Handel Arminio (title role) on the Accent label, Theodora (Didymus) with Pinchgut Opera on ABC Classics, Dean Hamlet (Guildenstern) on DVD from the Glyndebourne Festival on the Opus Arte label, i 7 Peccati Capitali, a disc of Monteverdi opera and madrigals on Ricercar records, Handel Susanna (Joacim) on Accent, Vivaldi Bajazet (Tamerlano) on ABC Classics, Handel Faramondo (Gernando) on Accent, Monteverdi Il ritorna d’Ulisse in Patria (L’Humana Fragilità) with Boston Baroque on Linn Records, Handel and Vivaldi Dixit Dominus on the Harmonia Mundi label, the Bernstein Missa Brevis on Hyperion, and a solo album of Handel Arias for the EMI Emerging Artists Series.
Christopher is also active as a conductor and performer in smaller consort ensembles and chamber choirs. He is the founder and conductor of Ensemble Altera, Cambridge Clerkes, Ensemble Aeterna, and passio. Recent concerts that he has organized and directed include ‘Hail Mary’, a program of music based on Marian texts, ‘illumine’, a concert of sacred music on the theme of light, Tudor choral music for male voices, a fundraising concert in London based around settings of the Requiem mass, a church service of English sacred music for the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, a program of music from the Eton Choirbook, and composer-focused concerts on William Byrd, John Taverner, and Thomas Tallis, and appearances on concert series in his native Providence and Newport, Rhode Island.
Originally from the United States, Christopher holds degrees with distinction from Brown University, the University of Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar with Trinity College Choir under Stephen Layton, and the Royal College of Music International Opera School. He is a winner of the Helpmann Awards, the Sullivan Foundation Award, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Michael Oliver Prize at the London Handel Singing Competition, and the Keasbey Award. He has studied with Russell Smythe, Derek Lee Ragin, Ashley Stafford, and Pierre Massé.
