BEN EDQUIST
BARITONE
BIOGRAPHY
Hailed as one of Opera Now’s“10 Young Singers to Watch,” baritone Ben Edquist is a star on the rise. Most notably, Mr. Edquist created the role of Edward Kynaston in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players with Houston Grand Opera. Of his performance, Opera Warhorses wrote "Edquist is a lyric baritone with the vocal expressiveness to convincingly convey passion, anger and despair. Edquist’s characterization of Kynaston provides him with a wide range of opportunities to display his manifest acting abilities. That he has proved successful in this role will be recognized by the world opera community, and suggests he is at the threshold of a major career."
The end of the ‘22 season saw Edquist embark on the National Tour of the Broadway hit Anastasia in the role of Gleb, which carried him into the next season as well. Other recent engagements include Carmina Burana with Madison Symphony, Hannah Before in As One with Painted Sky Opera, and Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd with Des Moines Metro Opera. 2020 engagements were to include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with New Orleans Opera and a return to Houston Grand Opera for their production of Breaking the Waves. Post-pandemic, he returned to the stage as Georg Norwack in She Loves Me with Madison Opera and as Virgil/Alexios in a double bill of Lavinia/Anna Komnene in concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. In 2023, Mr. Edquist joined the prestigious Singing Sergeants of the United States Air Force..
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CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...a rich, robust baritone and impressive acting..." – Texas Classical Review
Glory Denied – "Ben Edquist, in the role of Older Thompson, was exceptional in embodying the different aspects of his character with a rich, robust baritone and impressive acting. The range of expression he achieved was astounding—a voice of glinted steel as the tormentor in Act I, an increasingly desperate voice full of confusion, bitterness, and anguish, rambling out a list of things he no longer understands about his country in the “Welcome Home” solo—moving from a self-assured, controlled voice in his address to the congregation, to his aching solo as a drunken, broken man.”
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"...warm, soothing voice..." – Opera News
Prince of Players – "Edquist’s warm, soothing voice and youthful, fresh-faced appearance, were effective in realizing Kynaston's ambiguous sexuality and his gender-shifting performances, either as passive female (when playing Desdemona in an onstage Othello) or aggressive and murderous male (as Othello)."
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"...a vivid (and well sung) impression..." – Opera Warhorses
Carousel – "Texas baritone Ben Edquist played the part of Jigger Craigin with appreciable swagger, creating a vivid (and well sung) impression of the incompetent rogue."
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"...distinctive flair..." – OK Art Scene and Hurd
Il barbiere di Siviglia – "The barber is played by Ben Edquist with distinctive flair. Edquist makes the jack-of-all-trades character quite believable and the confident con-artist comes to life with humor and charm. Edquist creates an irresistible Figaro with his elastic voice.”
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"...soothes [Tim's nerves] with an easy charisma..." – The Cap Times
Fellow Travelers – "Edquist, as Hawk, soothes Tim’s nerves with an easy charisma. It’s not hard to see how he won over Mary, played by the marvelous Adriana Zabala. (Zabala’s Act II aria, “I worry, that’s all,” is another distinct pleasure.)"
REPRESENTATIVES
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