Peter Barrett

A recipient of the Ian Rosenblatt Bursary at the Wexford Festival in Ireland and a top prizewinner at the Montreal International Music Competition, baritone Peter Barrett is one of Canada’s most important and acclaimed artists on the opera and concert stage. Peter’s 22/23 season saw role debuts as Scarpia with Edmonton Opera and the lead role of Ratefreund in Pacific Opera Victoria’s Canadian premiere of Braunfels’ Die Vögel. He also joined the cast of the world premiere of Marshall’s Pomegranate at the Canadian Opera Company. His 21/22 appearances included Canadian Opera Company’s digital production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Marcello in La bohème for Edmonton Opera and the world premiere of Nicole Lizée’s R.U.R. A Torrent of Light with Toronto’s Tapestry Opera. 

Other recent engagements include Valentin in Faust for the Vancouver Opera, Wolseley in Louis Riel at the Canadian Opera Company, Mozart’s Requiem with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, and Emile de Becque in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific with Calgary Opera. Barrett, for several seasons, was on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut in the role of Malatesta in Don Pasquale opposite Anna Netrebko, and juggled several cover assignments, including Dr. Falke, Mercutio, and Morales, among others.

In previous seasons, Barrett’s appearances have included Marcello in La bohème for Minnesota Opera, Rodrigo in Don Carlos and Dancaïro in Carmen for the Vancouver Opera, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Lyra Ottawa, the King in Conrad Susa’s Transformations for the Wexford Festival, and The Nightingale and Other Short Fables at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As a concert artist, Barrett has sung Handel’s Messiah with the Newfoundland Symphony, Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Hamilton’s Bach Elgar Choir, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Bach Elgar Choir, and Carmina Burana with the Regina Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and Ottawa Choral Society.  

An alumnus of Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, Barrett has appeared with the COC in many roles, including Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Marcello in La bohème, Denisov/Rayevsky in War and Peace, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes, the Mandarin and Ping in Turandot, Marullo in Rigoletto, Dancaïro and Morales in Carmen, Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos, and in Janáček’s From the House of the Dead.  

Peter Barrett studied at Hartwick College in the United States, attended Tanglewood’s Music Institute and graduated from the Glenn Gould Professional School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he studied under Roxolana Roslak and Peter Tiefenbach. Further credits include the “Galaxy Rising Star” prize for most promising young artist at the 32nd Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s National Competition for Young Performers. 

September 2023

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