Baritone and Composer Joel David Balzun is establishing himself as a mature new voice in the future of music. His multi-faceted career has led him to work with some of the world’s most respected musicians and ensembles.
Since his professional debut in 2011 in El canguro with the California International Theatre Festival, Mr. Balzun has performed all over North America and in Europe. He recently returned from Vancouver, where he performed the title role in Don Giovanni. Other recent engagements included “Sid” (Albert Herring) with Eastman Opera Theatre, “Commissario” (La traviata) with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Four Villains (Les contes d’Hoffmann) with Napa Music Festival. On the concert stages, Mr. Balzun was featured in Bach’s Cantata BWV 36 and Cantata BWV 72 with the Eastman Cantata Ensemble in Rochester and Toronto. In 2014, he made his solo debut at the Kennedy Centre, singing excerpts from Turandot. He has also performed with Biola Opera Theatre (“John Brooke” – Little Women), Calgary Concert Opera Company (“Count Ceprano” and “Marullo” – Rigoletto) and Cowtown Opera Company (“Fiorello” – The Barber of Cowtown). On the concert stage, he has been featured in Dvorak’s Te Deum, Haydn’s The Creation, Bach’s Johannes-Passion, and Peter Maxwell Davies’ virtuosic Eight Songs for a Mad King.
Also a successful composer, Mr. Balzun’s “haunting and beautiful” music has received international recognition. In 2014, he was named a finalist for the prestigious ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards. Other accolades include both the Grand Prize and Young Composers Prize in the National Broadcast Orchestra’s Galaxie Rising Star Composers’ Competition, and winning the Dallas Wind Symphony’s 9th annual “Call for Fanfares.” He was a guest presenter and composer at the CBDNA 2013 National Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as the 2014 CFAMC National Conference, where he was also a featured soloist. Praised as “a composer to watch” by the Calgary Herald, his music has been performed by Calgary Civic Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, CCM Wind Orchestra, Dallas Wind Symphony, the National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada, La Orquestra Vientos de Costa Rica, Standing Wave Ensemble, and such luminary soloists as Corey Hamm and Richard Zeller, among others. His music has been broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and Espace Musique in Canada.
Mr. Balzun studied Music Composition and Vocal Performance at University of Calgary, Biola University, and the Eastman School of Music, where he recently earned his Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Literature. He has studied voice with Jan Opalach, Michelle Minke, and William Locke. In August, Joel will relocate to the Los Angeles area to join the voice faculty of Biola University. http://www.joelbalzun.com/
Accompanying Joel for this concert is pianist Faye Klassen who holds her bachelor and masters degrees in piano performance from the University of Manitoba.
This Concert is the fourth in a series of six Emerging Artist Concerts during 2015 generously sponsored by:
