Big Band Christmas

Curtis R. Sullivan

Acclaimed by Opera News magazine as being "vocally dazzling as La Haine" in Opera Atelier's Armide, Curtis Sullivan is an artist of extraordinary diversity. He has shared the screen with such actors as Rutger Hauer and Sylvester Stallone, in addition to sharing the stage with artists Angelika Kirchschlager and Frederica von Stada. Stage highlights include Cascada in " The Merry Widow" (San Francisco Opera), Schaunard in " La Bohème" (Calgary Opera), Harold Hill in "The Music Man" (Port Hope Festival Theatre), Vittorio Vidal in "Sweet Charity" (StageWest Calgary), Dr.Carrasco in "Man of LaMancha" (Drayton Ent.), Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew (Pacific Opera Victoria), Sky Masterson in "Guys & Dolls" (Port Hope Festival Theatre), Billy Bigelow in "Carousel" (Drayton Ent.), Giorgio in "Passion" (CanStage), Dancairo in "Carmen" (Vancouver Opera), Giuseppe Palmieri in "The Gondoliers" (Stratford Festival) and the title role in the North American tour of Tchaikovsky Discovers America. His passion for new work has taken him to lead roles in ten operatic world premieres and seven Canadian premieres with such companies as Tapestry New Opera Works, Opera Atelier, Vancouver New Music and The National Arts Centre. An artist who has long been associated with Canada's world renowned baroque opera company Opera Atelier, he has played several roles for the company including Count Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Il Commendatore, and Masetto (Don Giovanni) to audiences in Toronto, Ottawa and Cleveland, as well as in cities as far ranging as Singapore, Seoul, Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo.

Curtis R. Sullivan

A native of the north shore of New Brunswick, Curtis Sullivan grew up singing with his family in the fundamentalist evangelical Wesleyan Church of the little mill-town of Dalhousie. At the age of eighteen he attended the Wesleyan Church’s Bethany Bible College in Sussex, New Brunswick to study music and theology. After a year of ground breaking studies he transferred to the University of Western Ontario where he majored in vocal performance and minored in philosophy. Upon graduating from Western, Curtis went to the University of Toronto to further enhance his understanding of opera and, after two years of full time study, acquired a Diploma in Operatic Performance. Since the completion of his full time studies Curtis has continued to seek opportunities for instruction and improvement from various instructors and institutions in Toronto, New York and Paris including The Britten Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh, England and The Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada.

Curtis is a recipient of the Achievement and Merit Award from the Province of New Brunswick given to him in 1998 in recognition of his hard work and outstanding contribution to the community performed in the spirit of giving. He celebrates his family life with his wife Chaz, who has been his companion since 1985, and their two sons Nicholas (13) and Jared (11). Curtis and Chaz have lived in the Humber River Valley of Toronto for fifteen years and their sons attend the French Immersion Program at Humbercrest Public School.

Hailed by the Metropolitan Opera’s Opera News magazine as “vocally and visually dazzling”, Curtis has traveled literally around the world as a performer. He has appeared on film and TV with such actors as Rutger Hauer, David Carradine, and Sylvester Stallone, and since 1993 has interpreted numerous leading roles for the world renowned Toronto based Baroque theatre specialists Opera Atelier. Curtis has performed with the American National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as well as the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. A veteran of the Stratford Festival where he performed the leading role of Giuseppe Palmieri in The Gondoliers, he has also performed the title role in the North American tour of Tchaikovsky Discovers America and has successfully completed five Asian tours, including a ten city tour of Japan, performing such roles as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni.

Known for his strong musicianship and versatility as a performer, Curtis has appeared in ten operatic world premieres and eight Canadian premieres with such companies as Tapestry New Opera Works, Vancouver New Music, Opera Atelier, Canstage and The National Arts Centre in various award winning productions, including the world premiere of Atom Egoyan’s Elsewhereless and the leading role of Giorgio in the Canadian premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion.

Curtis has performed with many of the world’s major symphonies, and opera companies, in such cities as San Francisco, Houston, Oklahoma City, Lima, Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Cleveland and San Diego, to as far reaching as Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Singapore and Seoul.

Although work often takes him away from home, Curtis continues to enjoy his long association with the congregation of St. Giles Kingsway Presbyterian Church in Toronto where he began contributing as a soloist and choir member when he first moved to Toronto in 1992. Curtis is grateful to have a spiritual and communal home where service to God, and others, is constantly reinforced and also where, through his gift of singing, he can give something back to a community that has given him so much love and support over the years.