Brian Carter

A native of High Point, North Carolina, Brian Carter is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Music and Voice at Washington State University. He teaches Studio Voice, Vocal Literature, Diction for Singers, Musical Style in Composition, and Rock Music: History and Social Analysis. Before coming to WSU in the fall of 2012, he was a graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Carter began his musical career as a cellist, performing professionally for a number of years, before discovering classical singing. He then went on to pursue vocal studies earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, a master’s degree from the University of Houston, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

Heralded by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “a Wagnerian vocalist who can sing the sword out of Wotan’s tree,” Dr. Carter gained national attention as a singer of heroic operatic roles and concert repertoire. On the operatic stage, he has entertained in the roles of Max in Der Freischütz, Hoffmann in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Boris in Katya Kabanova, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Pluto in Orpheus and the Underworld, Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Trouffaldino in Love for Three Oranges, Cedric Prestwick in The Impresario, and the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury. Additionally, he has performed in scenes from Otello, Die Walküre, Cavalleria Rusticana, Fidelio, Tannhäuser, Cosí fan tutte, Cinderella, and Barber of Seville. As a member of the ensemble of Greensboro Opera Company, he appeared in Otello, Carmen, Don Pasquale, Tosca, and Un Ballo in Maschera.

As an apprentice artist, Dr. Carter performed for two seasons with San Francisco Opera Company’s Merola Opera Program appearing as Devil in Jacques Ibert’s Angélique, and in scenes from Die Walküre, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Idomeneo, and Der Freischütz.  He performed with Opera North as Benoit and Parpignol in La Bohéme and Torquemada in Ravel’s The Spanish Hour.  Following his tenures as a young artist, Dr. Carter spent several years in Seattle studying under renowned soprano Jane Eaglen.

Dr. Carter appears frequently in concert with credits including Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Faure’s Requiem, Daron Hagen’s Heart of a Stranger, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Requiem, and Missa Brevis in G, Handel’s Messiah, Finzi’s In Terra Pax, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Copland’s Old American Songs, Bach’s Wachet Auf, Ruft uns die Stimme, numerous renderings of Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ as well as the world premiere of Ming-Hsiu Yen’s Mandarin requiem Song of Life.  He was invited to be a concert performer and grant recipient for the Wagner Society of Washington DC’s Emerging Singers Program under the direction of Evelyn Lear, Thomas Stewart and John Edward Niles.  He has appeared as a soloist for the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the Palouse Choral Society, the North Carolina Symphony-UNCG Concerto/Aria Competition, the Northwest Symphonic Orchestra, the Dearborn Symphony, the High Point Community Concert Series, the International Workshops choral program at the Royal Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the Piedmont Wind Symphony, the Fibonacci Chamber Orchestra, and the Michigan Pops Orchestra.  He was a past winner of the North Carolina District Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and the National Association of Teachers of Singing North Carolina state competition.  Academic honors include inductions into Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda honorary fraternities.

Dr. Carter is an active recitalist and adjudicator.  He also maintains a private voice studio as well as regularly teaching master classes and clinics for schools and universities.  He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Voice Foundation and College Music Society.  In addition to his degrees in vocal performance, he also holds a degree in Communications/Broadcasting from Appalachian State University.

 

Sergei Rachmaninoff – Vesenniye Vody (excerpt)