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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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