Dr. Christian Elser - Voice, Opera, Voice Ped/Lit, Music History

BM, University of Wisconsin, Madison; MM, Northwestern University; DMA, University of Kansas

AS, Audio Recording/Production, The Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts
Office Phone: 833-8466
E-mail: acelser@presby.edu

Chicago native, baritone, Christian Elser is a versatile performer who is equally at home in opera, operetta and musical theater.  He has been praised for his wide range, warm rich baritone as well as his comic acting ability. Christian has performed roles with such organizations as the Chicago Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Lyric Opera of Cleveland, the Jefferson Performing Arts Society Orchestra in New Orleans, The Light Opera Oklahoma, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, DuPage Opera, Chicago City Symphony, Southwest Symphony and the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra. Recent favorite roles have included Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Vicar Gedge (Albert Herring), Gabriel von Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Count "Danilo" Danilovich (Merry Widow), Silvio (I Pagliacci), Dr. Daley (The Sorcerer), Marcello (La Boheme), Zurga (Pearl Fishers), and the perennial Dr. Maletesta (Don Pasquale). He has worked with such conductors and directors as David Alden, Beatrice Affron, Richard Boldrey, David Copley, Sir Andrew Davis,  Johnathan Field, Ward Holmquist, Tim Ocel, Alexander Platt, Dimitri Rostropovitch, Craig Rutenberg, Harry Silverstein, Thaddeus Strassburger, Christian Thielemann and Mark Versatt.

On disc, Christian appears singing several roles in the world premiere release of Robert Kurka’s WWI operatic farce “The Good Soldier Schweik,” with the Chicago Opera Theater (Cedille Records).  This recording was voted one of the "Best New Classical Recordings of 2002" by Gramophone magazine, and was nominated for Best New Opera Recording at the Cannes Music Festival. He has also performed live in concert on WFMT Chicago’s "Live from Studio One," and on Wisconsin Public Radio’s "Live from the Elvejhem" series.

Christian is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts (Voice/Opera ’08), Northwestern University (M.M. in Historical Musicology, ’96, Eckstein Scholar), and the University of Wisconsin, (B.M. in Vocal Performance, ’94, Honors).  He has taught voice, diction and music history at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Illinois, the University of Kansas, and currently serves on the faculty of Presbyterian College, in Clinton, South Carolina as an Assistant Professor of Music where he teaches voice, opera workshop, diction, and music history.

This past season Christian performed roles with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in their production of Thomas’ “Hamlet,” with the Kansas Concert Opera in Puccini’s “Tosca”, and with the Light Opera Oklahoma in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Trial by Jury,” Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd,” and Wilson’s “The Music Man.”  He was also the Artist-Teacher in residence for the LOOK apprentice program.  Currently, Christian is serving as the assistant curator, musicologist and narrator for the Chipstone Foundation’s Music and Decorative Art exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum opening in June 2008.