Lyric Opera of Chicago Names Michael Black New Chorus Master, Starting 2013-14 Season

Michael Black is chorus master of Opera Australia, a post he has held since 2001. His repertoire with the company has included seven Mozart works, 12 Verdi works, 13 French works, 19 Italian works, 11 German works, 11 English works, seven Slavic works, and ten operettas in various languages. Among these are several works that are planned for Lyric Opera's future seasons.

Additionally, Black has prepared the Opera Australia chorus for performances of the Verdi Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Brahms's A German Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, Holst's The Planets, Rimsky Korsakov's Polotvisan Dances, and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. Recordings, DVDs, and/or HD cinema broadcasts with Opera Australia include the Verdi Requiem, Pirates of Penzance, The Love of Three Oranges, Rusalka, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloë, Le nozze di Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, Rigoletto, The Mikado, Madama Butterfly, Die tote Stadt,and Opera Australia's 50th Gala Concert. He worked as assistant chorus master and children's chorus master before being appointed chorus master in 2001.

Black has also worked as chorus master with the Edinburgh Festival and London's Holland Park Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choir, Sydney Motet Choir, and Cantillation in a variety of repertoire. Over the course of several years he was a lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, has adjudicated many competitions, and has given vocal master classes. His many awards and scholarships include the Opera Foundation Bayreuth Scholarship (2001). Black holds a bachelor of music education degree and graduate diploma in accompaniment from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and a master of music degree (in musicology) from the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He was born in 1965.

Photo Credit: Kurt Sneddon

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