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The American baritone, Mischa Bouvier, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University; and his Master of Music degree from the University and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He participated in training programs at Lyric Opera Cleveland, Internationale Meisterkurse für Musik Zürich, the Carmel Bach Festival, the American Bach Soloists ACADEMY, and the Tanglewood Music Festival. He has studied with William Sharp, Thomas Baresel and Mark Schnaible, and is the grand-nephew of renowned Swiss tenor Ernst Haefliger. Recognition awards have included the American Bach Soloists Henry I. Goldberg Young Artist Award, the Oratorio Society of New York Solo Competition’s Docia Goodwin Franklin and Richard Westenberg Awards, the Louisville Bach Society Gerhard Herz Young Artist Competition, the American Prize’s Vocal Competition, and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition.
Praised by Opera News for a “soothing, cavernous baritone that can soar to heights of lyric beauty,” Mischa Bouvier continues to impact audiences with his keen musicality and remarkable communicative ability. He has performed with a wide array of ensembles including Anonymous 4, the Mark Morris Dance Group, American Handel Society, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Long Island Philharmonic, Metropolis Ensemble, Folger Consort, Catacoustic Consort, SongFusion, Dryden Ensemble, Close Encounters with Music, Sting, and Christopher Williams Dance.
Recent opera roles include Moneybags Billy in Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Tanglewood with casting by James Levine; Lucifer in a semi-staged version of George Frideric Handel’s La resurrezione with the Baroque Band in Chicago; and Betto in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with the Dupage Opera Theatre. Mischa Bouvier has performed the role of Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Opera in the Heights and Bronx Opera, Le médecin in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Enrico in Haydn’s L’isola disabitata, Bardolph and Chief Justice in Gordon Getty’s Plump Jack (including the Mexico premiere), and Leporello in W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni (scenes) and Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (scenes) at Tanglewood. He made his professional musical theater debut with the Boston Pops under the baton of Keith Lockhart singing Jigger Craig in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel in 2007 (now available on the Tanglewood 75 label).
An avid recitalist, Mischa Bouvier’s recent collaborations with pianist Yegor Shevtsov have included recitals for the Macon Concert Series; Clemson University’s Utsey Chamber Music Series at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts; the Baldwin-Wallace Art Song Festival; Trinity Church’s “Concerts at One” series; the Rockport Chamber Music Festival; Planting Fields’ Music at the Mansion Concert Series; Cold Springs Harbor’s Cultural Series; and the Music Room at the Lindberg Farm.
Mischa Bouvier was featured with Orchestra of St. Luke's and Musica Sacra at Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in March 2013 in J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (arias) under the baton of Iván Fischer, and he joined the Colorado Symphony in December 2012 for G.F. Handel’s Messiah. Other recent highlights are J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) (Pilate and arias) with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys; Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs with the Princeton Glee Club; J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) (Pilate and arias) with Chatham Baroque; J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (Pilate and arias) under the baton of Kent Tritle for the “Sacred Music in a Sacred Space” series; the American premiere of Antonio Lotti’s Mass for 3 Voices with the American Bach Soloists (Director: Jeffrey Thomas); and W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with Bach Collegium San Diego (Director: Ruben Valenzuela).
A strong advocate for new music, Mischa Bouvier offered a series of concerts in 2012-2013 at Brooklyn’s Barbès Bar focusing on contemporary music and exploring American song in collaboration with soprano Sarah Wolfson. He has given several NYC performances of Mohammed Fairouz’s Furia (which he has also recorded for Bridge Records), including a newly commissioned orchestral version with The Knights. He has sung regional premieres of Lori Laitman’s Men With Small Heads, Daniel Bernard Roumain‘s The Lament of Gilgamesh, and Paul Moravec’s Songs of Love and War, and the world premieres of Charles Fussell’s cycle Venture at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music, and Bryan Page’s 25 Poems. His debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall featured new works by four emerging composers, including world premieres by Bryan Page and Yotam Haber, and songs by Ted Hearne and Gabriel Kahane.
Mischa Bouvier's 2013-2014 season included his Lincoln Center debut singing the New York premiere of Jocelyn Hagan’s amass with Musica Sacra; G.F. Handel’s Messiah with the American Bach Soloists at Grace Cathedral and the Mondavi Center; Arvo Pärt’s Passio (Evangelisti) for the “collected stories” series at Carnegie Hall, curated by David Lang; G.F. Handel’s Apollo e Dafne (debut as Apollo) with the American Bach Soloists; and debuts with the Alabama Symphony (G.F. Handel’s Messiah), Columbus Symphony Orchestra (Johannes Brahms’ Requiem) and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (J. Brahms’ Requiem).
2014-2015 season highlights include a return to the Alabama Symphony and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra for G.F. Handel’s Messiah; G.F. Handel’s Acis and Galatea (debut as Polyphemus) with the American Bach Soloists; the role of Lucifer in G.F. Handel’s La resurrezione with the Helicon Ensemble and Bach Collegium San Diego; a debut with Cut Circle at Musica Sacra Maastricht, Netherlands performing medieval works by Josquin and Brumel; J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (Jesus) under the baton of Helmuth Rilling for the Festival Casals de Puerto Rico; W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with the Stamford Symphony Orchestra; the premiere of several new works by living Swedish composers in Paris (commissioned by Mirror Visions Ensemble); and recitals in South Carolina, Washington, Arkansas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Arizona and New York.
Highlights of the 2015-2016 season include recitals at Strathmore Hall (Maryland), St. Vincent College (Pennsylvania) and the Artists Series of Tallahassee, Florida, as well as special chamber music perforin Colorado with the Lysander Piano Trio at Lincoln Center of Fort Collins and the Lakewood Cultural Center. With orchestra, he is the featured soloist in a special Holiday concert with the Tallahassee Symphony, and he also enjoys return engagements with the American Bach Soloists, Bach Collegium San Diego (December 2015 & March 2016), and Chatham Baroque in Pittsburgh (Purcell’s The Fairy Queen). He currently resides on Long Island. |
