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discipline = "Baritone"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1546831973/media/2019/01/BrianMulligan.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "IMG Artists"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/los-angeles-opera.md", "scene/companies/canadian-opera-company.md", "scene/companies/houston-grand-opera.md", "scene/companies/english-national-opera.md", "scene/companies/washington-national-opera.md", "scene/companies/the-juilliard-school.md", "scene/companies/lyric-opera-of-chicago.md", "scene/companies/minnesota-opera.md", "scene/companies/the-metropolitan-opera.md", "scene/companies/opernhaus-zurich.md", "scene/companies/oper-frankfurt.md", "scene/companies/san-francisco-opera.md"]
slug = "brian-mulligan"
title = "Brian Mulligan"
website = "https://brianmulligan.com/"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Instagram"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://www.instagram.com/brianthebaritone/"

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Baritone Brian Mulligan is equally renowned as an interpreter of classic works by Verdi, Wagner and Strauss as well as of the most challenging twentieth and twenty-first century operas.  His striking stage portrayals have taken him to leading opera houses throughout Europe and North America.  He makes regular appearances with the leading US orchestras and in recital.

Brian Mulligan begins the 2018/9 season in recital with the Vocal Arts DC at the Kennedy Center with pianist Timothy Long.  He presents the world premiere of _Walden_ by Gregory Spears, a work written for him based on texts by iconic American writer Henry David Thoreau.  The recital also features _From the Diary of Virginia Woolf_ by Domenick Argento which Mulligan recently recorded on an acclaimed disc for Naxos.

His operatic season includes a role debut as Mandryka in _Arabella_ in a return to San Francisco Opera conducted by Marc Albrecht.  He records Guglielmo in Puccini’s _Le Villi_ for Opera Rara and performs the work in concert in London under the baton of Sir Mark Elder.  He returns to Zurich Opera as Zurga in _Les Pecheurs de Perles._  He makes a double debut with Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam, first as Sharpless in _Madama Butterfly_ and then as Golaud in a new production of _Pelleas et Melisande._  A further season highlight is the release on Bridge Records of his second solo CD _Old Fashioned_ which features beloved songs of the early twentieth century made popular by great American baritones of the past.

In the 2017-2018 season, Brian Mulligan made role debuts as Gunther and Donner in the Francesca Zambello production of the _Ring_ at the San Francisco Opera, conducted by Donald Runnicles. He returned to Oper Frankfurt to sing Count di Luna in David Bösch’s new production _Il trovatore_, and Nélusko in Meyerbeer’s _L’Africaine_ in Tobias Kratzer’s new production. He also sang Sharpless in _Madama Butterfly_ at Opernhaus Zürich in a new production by Ted Huffman.

[**ReadLess**](https://imgartists.com/roster/brian-mulligan/#)

In recent seasons, Brian Mulligan returned to Oper Frankfurt for his role debut as Golaud in _Pelléas et Mélisande._ He has also returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Paolo in _Simon Boccanegra_ with Plácido Domingo in the title role and James Levine conducting. He returned to Opernhaus Zürich for his signature role of Valentin in _Faust_, and Yeletsky in Robert Carsen’s production of _Pique Dame_. At the Minnesota Opera, Mr. Mulligan created the role of Jack Torrance in the world premiere of _The Shining_, written by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell.

Mr. Mulligan has made numerous appearances at the San Francisco Opera, where he has sung the title role in Sondheim’s _Sweeney Todd;_ the title role in _Nixon in China_; Enrico in a new production of _Lucia di Lammermoor;_ as Count Anckarström in Verdi’s _Un Ballo in Maschera_, and as Chorèbe in Sir David McVicar’s production of Berlioz’s _Les Troyens._  Other roles there include Albert in _Werther_, Sharpless, Valentin, Marcello and the King’s Herald in _Lohengrin_.

Other career operatic highlights include his debut at the Metropolitan Opera while still a student at The Juilliard School in _Die Frau ohne Schatten_. Since then he has made many celebrated debuts at the world’s leading opera houses, including Opernhaus Zürich (Yeletsky), Wiener Staatsoper (Captain Balstrode), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Enrico in _Lucia di Lammermoor_), Oper Frankfurt (Prospero in Adès’ _The Tempest_), Canadian Opera Company (Enrico), Houston Grand Opera (Marcello), and English National Opera (Sharpless).  Other important roles have included the title role in _Hamlet_ with Minnesota Opera, Valentin at the Metropolitan Opera, and Enrico in the David Alden production of _Lucia di Lammermoor_at Canadian Opera Company, English National Opera, and Washington National Opera.  He sang Prometheus in Walter Braunfels’ _Die Vögel_ and Marcello at Los Angeles Opera; with Lyric Opera of Chicago as The Father in _Hansel and Gretel_; Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival as Ford in _Falstaff_; New York City Opera as Count Almaviva in _Le Nozze di_ Figaro; Opera Theatre of St. Louis as the title role in Adams’s _The Death of Klinghoffer_; Central City Opera as Tarquinius in Britten’s _The Rape of Lucretia_; and Wexford Festival Opera in a double bill of Massenet’s operas _La Navarraise_ and _Thérèse_.

 

On the symphonic front, Brian Mulligan has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony for Mahler’s _Das klagende Lied_led by Michael Tilson Thomas; the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Vaughan William’s _A Sea Symphony_ conducted by Robert Spano, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for John Adams’ _The Wound Dresser._ He performed Brahms’s _Ein deutsches Requiem_ with the Pacific Chorale, and in Orff’s _Carmina Burana_ with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. At the Aspen Music Festival he made a role debut as Amonasro in a semi-staged performance of _Aida_under the baton of Robert Spano.  Other orchestral highlights include the Cleveland Orchestra in Orff’s _Carmina Burana_ at the Blossom Music Festival and Vaughan Williams’ _A Sea Symphony_; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of James Primosch’s _Songs for Adam_ conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in _Carmina Burana_ conducted by Marin Alsop. He joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, which was recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and released on DVD. Other orchestral highlights include Handel’s _Judas Maccabaeus_ with James Conlon and members of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra; concert versions of _Der Kaiser von Atlantis_ with Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Ravinia Festival under the baton of James Conlon, where he also performed Mahler’s _Das klagende Lied_; Mendelssohn’s _Paulus_ and Handel’s _Messiah_ with the Houston Symphony; Mendelssohn’s _Elijah_ and Mahler’s _Das Knaben Wunderhorn_ with the Phoenix Symphony under Michael Christie; Silvio in _Pagliacci_ with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in New Zealand; Titus in Magnard’s rarely performed _Bérénice_ at Carnegie Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra; Brahms’ _Ein deutsches Requiem_ and the West Coast premiere of Lieberson’s _The World in Flower_ with the Los Angeles Master Chorale; and Balstrode in _Peter Grimes_ at the Aspen Music Festival.

A graduate of The Juilliard School, Mr. Mulligan has been awarded a Richard Tucker Career Grant, a Sara Tucker Study Grant, the George London Award, and First Prize at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Vocal Competition.

Mr. Mulligan holds dual citizenship in the United States and Ireland.