Colin Balzer


Bach's B Minor Mass with the Quebec Symphony:

“The tenor, Colin Balzer, whose voice seems to grow richer and more velvety, was my favorite.  His Benedictus with flute and cello accompaniment, was magnificently delectable chamber music worth the trip."                                                                                                                   -Le Soleil, January 31, 2008 

  

Messiah with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra:
“...unfailingly superb.  Canadian Colin Balzer is surely the tenor-of-choice in this repertoire, with his firm, free, vibrant sound and amazing command of Handelian coloratura.”   
                                                                                                 -Toronto Globe and Mail, December 21, 2007

Bach's Christmas Cantatas with Early Music Vancouver:
“Tenor Balzer goes from strength to strength, handling Bach's long, florid lines with ease and telling musicality.”
                                                                   -The Vancouver Sun, December 4, 2007

An extraordinarily gifted, Germany-based young Canadian lyric tenor combining assured musicality and the communicativeness and varied tonal palette of a lieder specialist, Colin Balzer is fast becoming one of the most sought-after concert soloists of his generation.   Following summer 2007 performances of Lully’s Psyché with the Boston Early Music Festival, his 2007-2008 season includes concerts throughout Germany with the Munich Bach Choir; Bach Cantatas with Early Music Vancouver; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra; Händel’s Messiah with Toronto’s Tafelmusik and the Victoria Symphony; Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Quebec Symphony, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion on a European tour  with Spain’s Al Ayre Espagnol ensemble.  In addition he performs Haendel's Chandos Anthems in France, Germany and Poland with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre.  In 2008-2009 he will sing the title role of Monteverdi's Orfeo in Edmonton, Haydn's Die Schoepfung with Yoav Talmi and the Quebec Symphony; Haendel's Messiah with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Mozart Requiem with the National Philharmonic and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with Philippe Herregweghe and Collegium Vocale Ghent.


Recent seasons included a U.S. tour with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy; Paulus with the Quebec Symphony; Händel’s Song of Solomon and J.S. Bach’s  St. John Passion with Tafelmusik; Händel’s Messiah with the Ann Arbor Symphony; Händel’s La Resurrezione with Early Music Vancouver; a Mozart/Berlioz program for Music Director James Setapen’s farewell concerts with the Amarillo Symphony; appearances with the Het Brabants Orkest (Cornelius’ Stabat Mater),  Kenneth Montgomery and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Handel’s Athalia), and the Luxembourg Symphony (Mozart’s Idomeneo with Leopold Hager conducting).   In addition he made important debuts with Bernard Labadie and the New Jersey Symphony and Mario Venzago and the Indianapolis Symphony, both in the Mozart Requiem; sang Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch at Finland’s Savonlinna Festival, Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea at Festival Vancouver,  and the role of Gavust in the world-premiere performances of Mattheson’s Boris Goudenow at the Boston Early Music Festival. 

With repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Penderecki, Mr. Balzer has enjoyed critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, working with such conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Simone Young, Simon Preston, Yoav Talmi, Gabriel Chmura and Christof Perick, performing with the Hungarian and Polish National Radio Orchestras, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Oregon, Vancouver and Québec Symphonies, among many others.  Particularly esteemed as a recitalist, he has been welcomed at London’s Wigmore Hall (accompanied by Graham Johnson), the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, and at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.  Recordings to date include Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch and Eisler and Henze song anthologies.   

A prizewinner of  Holland’s  ‘s-Hertogenbosch Competition,  the U.K.’s Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Stuttgart, Germany’s Hugo Wolf Competition and Munich's 55th International ARD Competition, Mr. Balzer also holds the rare distinction of earning the Gold Medal at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau with the highest score in 25 years.  Masterclasses have been with such artists as Phillip Langridge, Robert Tear, Elly Ameling, Brigitte Fassbaender, Rudolph Jansen, and Christoph Prégardien.   Born in British Columbia, he received his formal musical training at the University of British Columbia with David Meek and with Edith Wiens at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg/Augsburg.

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