SIDNEY OUTLAW
BARITONE
BIOGRAPHY
Lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre,” Sidney Outlaw is an “opera powerhouse” who has delighted audiences in the U.S. and abroad with his “weighty and forthright” sound (San Francisco Chronicle) since 2010 when he exploded onto the international scene after winning Grand Prize at the Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballe.
This season, Mr. Outlaw will sing Marcello in La bohème with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Toledo Opera, and the title role in Don Giovanni with Boston Baroque, and he will appear in concert with Opera Memphis, American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Jacksonville Symphony, the Oratorio Society of New York, and Nashville Symphony. In recent seasons, Mr. Outlaw sang Schaunard in La bohème with Greensboro Opera, Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with New Orleans Opera, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Omaha, Salieri in Mozart and Salieri with Opera San Jose, Jake in Porgy and Bess with Greensboro Opera, and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Pensacola Opera and Opera Saratoga. He made his San Francisco Opera début as the First Mate in Billy Budd, he sang Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony, and Tommy McIntyre in Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera. On the concert platform, he made his début with Boston Baroque as soloist in Handel’s Messiah, returned to Oratorio Society New York as soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass, and joined Youngstown Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen. [read more...]
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... deep and authoritative..." – The Boston Globe
Messiah– “Baritone Sidney Outlaw seemed more like a bass, cavernous in “The people that walked in darkness” before swelling into “have seen a great light,” gruff and prophetic in “Why do the nations.” Twice he simply closed his score and held it by his side. Outlaw’s simple, direct “Behold, I tell you a mystery” created suspense; “The trumpet shall sound” delivered, deep and authoritative, in duet with Justin Bland’s gleaming, dancing trumpet."
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“... broad, fluent and full of vivid expression…” – San Francisco Chronicle
Mozart and Salieri – “Baritone Sidney Outlaw takes this star assignment and makes it something at once eerie and noble. His singing is broad, fluent and full of vivid expression. In Outlaw’s rendition, Salieri is all too keenly aware that he’s lost the moral thread, but is unable to steady his course."
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"... powerful low notes…” – OperaWire
Yardbird – “Baritone Sidney Outlaw…sang with powerful low notes that added intense harmony to the ensembles. Dizzy understood Charlie in a way that few others could because he had similar likes and desires. Dramatically and musically each reflected the other’s personality in a way that strengthened both characterizations.”
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"... a lovely lyric baritone..." – Opera News
Roméo et Juliette – “Sidney Outlaw essayed a mischievously animated Mercutio, with a lovely lyric baritone to match. The “Mab” aria was adorable.”
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"... charismatic baritone..." – Post and Courier
Porgy and Bess– “Clara’s husband, the fisherman Jake, sings “A Woman is a Sometime Thing.” This is Sidney Outlaw’s first big moment, and the charismatic baritone takes full advantage of it, producing an appealingly warm and fluid vocal line and strutting comfortably on stage.”