Jesse Clark, baritone

Canadian-born baritone Jesse Clark is a graduate of Queen's University with an Honours degree in English Literature, and of the University of Toronto's Opera Division. Roles at the school included Starveling in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Le Fauteuil in Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortileges, the Vicar in Britten's Albert Herring, Popolani in Offenbach's Barbe Bleue, and John Wilson in the world premiere of The Last Duel by Gary Kulesha. Jesse has participated in the Tanglewood Music Festival and The Steans Institute at Ravinia where he worked with Phyllis Curtin, Matthias Goerne, Dawn Upshaw, Seiji Ozawa, Frederico Cortese, Malcolm Martineau, Pierre Vallet, Margo Garrett, Martin Katz, and Rudolph Piernay.

Jesse has also traveled to England on several occasions to attend the Britten-Pears Young Artist Program. While in Aldeburgh, he performed the role of Harlekin in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos directed by Colin Graham, and participated in masterclasses with Malcolm Martineau, Ann Murray, Phillip Langridge, and Graham Johnson, culminating in a recital of Schubert and Britten at London's Wigmore Hall accompanied by Graham Johnson. Recent engagements include Henry Cuffe in Britten's Gloriana for the Aldeburgh Festival, conducted by Richard Hickox, which was recorded by the BBC, the baritone solos in Britten's War Requiem conducted by Simone Young at Snape Maltings, and the role of Il Conte in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro for the Banff Centre conducted by David Agler. Jesse currently lives in Toronto.