Brad Jungwirth has been described by critics as “a muscular baritone with an evocatively dark instrument” and has been praised for his “dulcet and lyrical” voice and “no-holds-barred intensity.” He recently made his subscription concert debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Louis Langrée, performing Schönberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw. These concerts were broadcast throughout the Ohio area, and recorded for digital release. He returned to the Cincinnati Symphony as soloist for concerts of music from Hollywood musicals for their summer Pops series in 2015.
Recent operatic performances include his role debut as Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the 2014 Shippensburg Music Festival conducted by Robert Trevino, Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen with Michigan’s Soo Opera Theater and in the Peter Brooks’ adaptation, La tragédie de Carmen, for Chicago’s CUBE Ensemble. He returned to the Shippensburg Festival in 2016 to sing the Marquis in Verdi’s La Traviata. Other roles include Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard, Dr. Engel in The Student Prince, the title role in Walton’s The Bear, Marcello in La Bohéme, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, and Morales/Dancaire in Carmen.
Concert performances include the baritone soloist in Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem with the DuPage Chorale, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (as a guest artist with the University of Wisconsin, Parkside Symphony and Chorus), Dvorak’s Te Deum, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, and numerous works of J.S. Bach, including cantata 82, “Ich habe genug.” He was the baritone soloist for the 2009 premiere of Jacob Bancks’ Missa Omnium Sanctorum, presented by the Soli Deo Gloria foundation.
Mr. Jungwirth is an avid performer of contemporary music, and has been highly praised for his performances of Peter Maxwell Davies’ monodrama 8 Songs for a Mad King; his performance of this demanding work at the 2008 Jusqu’aux Oreilles contemporary music festival in Montréal was hailed by the Montréal Gazette as “prodigiously convincing.” He received much acclaim for his portrayal of multiple roles in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s GREEK with Chicago Opera Vanguard, and performed a fully-staged production of Schubert’s Winterreise with the company in 2010.
He has premiered a number of new works, including Kyong Mee Choi’s multimedia opera The Eternal Tao, which was released on DVD through Ravello Recordings in 2013. Of his performance in The Eternal Tao, Voix des Arts stated, “The standout performance among the vocalists comes from baritone Brad Jungwirth, whose strong, handsome voice rings out dashingly even in the most complicated passages. Voices are employed as instruments in the ensemble, and Mr. Jungwirth unflinchingly manages lines with great rhythmic complexity.” In March, 2011 he made his debut at Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance with the Fulcrum Point Music Project as the baritone soloist for the premiere of Vivian Fung’s Yunnan Folk Songs.