Richard Burkhard

Baritone Richard Burkhard has been a fixture of vocal scenes all over Britain, with a large repertory stretching from the Baroque to the present day. His expertise extends to many kinds of concert music as well as opera. Burkhard grew up in an operatic household. Both of his parents were opera singers, and he was traumatized by seeing his father stabbed by his mother during a production of Puccini's Tosca when he was just six years old. Burkhard had his first experiences as a singer as a boy chorister at Windsor Castle, in St. George's chapel. He attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), studying with Patricia MacMahon and Caroline Coxon, graduating with distinction. Burkhard earned a scholarship and went on to study with Carlo Bergonzi in Siena, Italy. The Decca Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Vocal Awards and a win at the Royal Overseas League Singing Competition helped launch his career. For a time, he supported himself by working at Scotland's Haddo House estate. Even as a student, Burkhard had appeared in Handel's opera Semele and his career since then has partially focused on Scotland. He has appeared often with the Scottish Opera in works ranging from Mozart (Papageno in The Magic Flute is among his specialties) to Janáček's The Adventures of Mr. Broucek. Elsewhere in the U.K., he has performed a variety of roles, from Mahmoud in John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer to Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore at Opera North. His concert engagements include a series with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under conductor Roger Norrington, in works by Bach, Purcell, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, and a bass soloist slot in Mozart's Requiem, K. 626, at the Royal Albert Hall. Burkhard's solo recitals have taken him to such prestigious venues as St. Martin-in-the-Fields‚ St. John’s‚ Smith Square, and Snape Maltings. Burkhard has made several recordings, beginning in 2004 with an appearance in an all-star version of Monteverdi's Orfeo. In 2008, he was heard on the premiere recording of composer Edward Rushton's opera The Shops. In 2021, Burkhard returned as Jupiter in an Academy of Ancient Music recording of John Eccles' rarely heard opera Semele, on the same libretto later set by Handel. ~ James Manheim