Hartt Honors Robert Brubaker '77 With 2013 Alumni Award

The Hartt School has announced that celebrated tenor Robert Brubaker '77 (Bachelor of Music) will be honored with the 2013 Hartt Alumni Award at the annual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19. Mr. Brubaker has established himself as a leading tenor in opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, praised for the clarity and power of his voice and the impact of his acting. He has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Opéra National de Paris, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, and other major opera houses around the world. Mr. Brubaker, who will speak at Hartt's graduation ceremony, also will share his experiences and insights with students and other interested members of the University of Hartford community at Hartt's Paranov hour on April 25, from 12:15 PM to 1:05 PM, in Millard Auditorium.

As Opera News summed it up when writing about his Golitsin in the new Andrei Serban production of Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina at the Bastille, unveiled in December, 2001, "Brubaker once again showed that, for sheer stamina in high-lying music, he has few rivals."

Recent engagements include the Kaiser in Die Frau Ohne Schatten with Deutsche Oper Berlin; Laca in Jenufa at the English National Opera; Boris in Katya Kabanova at the Theater an der Wien; Mephistopheles in the premiere of Busoni's Doktor Faust at Teatre de la Maestranza in Seville; a return to the Glyndebourne Festival for the world premiere of the new opera, Love and Other Demons, composed by Peter Eötvös; Herodes in Salome in Bologna; Alviano in Die Gezeichneten at Los Angeles Opera; a reprise of Don Ygnacio in Of Love and Other Demons at Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg; Loge in Das Rheingold at Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville; Mao Tse-Tung in Nixon in China at the Metropolitan Opera; the title role in Der König Kandaules for Vienna Volksoper; Captain in Wozzek at Santa Fe Opera; and the Witch in Hänsel und Gretel and Mime in the Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera.

Upcoming engagements include Mime in Siegfried at Seville; Mime in Das Rheingold and Siegfried at Teatro Massimo Palermo; Malatestino in Francesca da Ramini and Mime in the Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera; Luigi in Il Tabarro and Canio in I Pagliacci with Opera St. Louis; an appearance with Dallas Opera in 2014; and returns to the MET in upcoming seasons.

Other career highlights include Mime in Siegfried at the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine and broadcast internationally; his appearances at the Salzburg Festival in the title role of Zemlinsky's Der König Kandaules, and as Alviano in Die Gezeichneten, both with Kent Nagano; as Count Pierre Bezukhov in War and Peace with the Opéra National de Paris, directed by Francesca Zambello; Mephistopheles in the Metropolitan Opera's premiere of Busoni's Doktor Faust; Golitsin in Khovanshchina at the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Case at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Catherine Malfitano; the same role at Houston Grand Opera and English National Opera, where it was also recorded for Chandos Records with Sir Charles Mackerras; Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at Covent Garden on opening night of Antonio Pappano's first season as music director; Guido Bardi in Zemlinsky's Eine Florentinische Tragödie with James Conlon conducting; Aegisth in Elektra, and Herodes in Salome at Teatro alla Scala; his Glyndebourne Festival debut singing his first Laca in a revival of Nicholas Lehnhoff's acclaimed production of Janá?ek's Jenufa, followed by the same role for his Dallas Opera debut; the title role in Peter Grimes with the Canadian Opera Company conducted by artistic director Richard Bradshaw, with the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, with the English National Opera and at Aldeburgh; and the title role in Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg at the Opéra National de Paris and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.