Baritone Peter Barrett has been celebrated for his “commanding” performances with “stage presence to burn” (Opera Canada). In 2026/2027, he returns to Pacific Opera Victoria as the Father in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and bookends his season with Verdi’s La traviata, appearing as Baron Douphol with the Canadian Opera Company (COC) and Germont (role debut) with Vancouver Opera.

Recent engagements for the Newfoundland native include role debuts as Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana, Opera West), Scarpia (Tosca, Edmonton Opera), and Ratefreund in Pacific Opera Victoria’s Canadian premiere of Braunfels’ Die Vögel. Barrett also returned to Vancouver Opera as Dr. Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Calgary Opera for Hansel and Gretel, and the COC for the world premiere of Marshall’s Pomegranate.

Additional highlights include COC’s digital production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Edmonton Opera’s La bohème, and the world premiere of Nicole Lizée’s R.U.R.: A Torrent of Light with Tapestry Opera. In previous seasons, Peter was seen as Valentin in Faust for the Vancouver Opera, Wolseley in Louis Riel at the Canadian Opera Company, and Emile de Becque in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific with Calgary Opera. 

Peter made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Malatesta in Don Pasquale opposite Anna Netrebko, while engaged for several cover assignments over multiple seasons, including Dr. Falke, Mercutio, and Morales, among others. Barrett’s additional operatic 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.

On the concert stage, Barrett has sung Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem with the Newfoundland Symphony; Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Calgary Philharmonic, and Hamilton’s 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, a Ian Rosenblatt Bursary at the Wexford Festival in Ireland, and top prizes at the Montreal International Music Competition.

July 2026
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