Spotlight Sunday - Darius Gillard

It's Sunday and time to introduce you to another artist in the cast of The Tender Land. You can see them all on stage at the Aetna Theatre at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art this June. Today's spotlight is on tenor, Darius Gillard. Darius will be making his Hartford Opera debut this year in the role of Martin.

Tenor Darius Gillard is steadily gaining momentum on regional operatic circuits. Praised for his warm legato and charismatic presence, he excels in the lyric repertoire. Having spent the majority of his career as a lyric baritone, he made a speedy switch to tenor in 2016 and made a role debut the same year as Romeo in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette at the Power Center for the Performing Arts. To date, he has performed a number roles in operas ranging from the classical works of Mozart to the verismo operas of Verdi and Puccini. He has appeared in leading roles and as a young artist with companies such as Connecticut Lyric Opera, Greenville Light Opera, Capitol Opera Raleigh, Central Piedmont Opera, and The Verdi Opera Theatre of Detroit. He has also made appearances with Charleston Chamber Orchestra, Flint Symphony Orchestra, and the Detroit Festival Camerata as a featured soloist in various oratorio works. At present, he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan under the instruction of Dr. Scott Piper.

Here is what Darius has to say about opera without borders:

Opera is one of the purest reflections of the human condition and therefore belongs to all of us. Yet there are so many who don't get to experience this because of a host of varied and longstanding barriers. Opera Without Borders is a critical initiative that helps to break down those barriers and make this art form accessible to as many people as possible. Opera without borders is opera for everyone.

We will be back on Tuesday with another artist feature.