Biography
Bass-baritone Craig Irvin brings a vibrant sound and commitment to character to each role he portrays. Currently a young artist with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center he recently sang the roles of Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly and Doctor/Professor in Lulu with the company as well as Ramphis in Aida with Pensacola Opera. In the 2009-2010 season he returns for a second year with Lyric Opera of Chicago where his assignments will include Angelotti in Tosca as well as covering the roles of Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro and Brander in Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust. Additionally he will be seen with the Knoxville Opera as Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro for Des Moines Metro Opera, and as a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra.
Other recent engagements include an appearance with Naples Opera as Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and with Des Moines Metro Opera as Bottom in their production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A winner of the Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actor Award sponsored by Orlando Opera, Mr. Irvin spent a season with the company as a Resident Artist, and then stayed on with the company a second year as a main stage artist. During his tenure there he was seen on the mainstage as the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, Abimelech in Samson et Dalilah, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Elder Ott in Susannah, and Angelotti in Tosca. While in Orlando Mr. Irvin also sang the role of Gaston in over 700 performances of Beauty and the Beast at Walt Disney World, MGM.
Other role highlights include Private Willis in Iolanthe with Nashville Opera and Don Alhambra in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers with Opera North. In the course of his graduate work at The University of Tennessee he has been seen with Knoxville Opera Company as Pooh Bah in The Mikado, Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, and Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, as well as Reverend Blitch in Susannah and the title role in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd with the Knoxville Opera Studio. A native of Iowa, Mr. Irvin did his undergraduate study at the Simpson College in Indianola under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Larsen. After finishing his degree at Simpson, Mr. Irvin went on to pursue his Masters in Vocal Performance at the University of Tennessee where he studied with Andrew Wentzel.
