Ben Kazez

Baritone Ben Kazez has performed in the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner and as soloist at Barcelona’s Petit Palau, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and London’s St John’s Smith Square and Milton Court. Read More…

Solo concerts include Bach and Handel under Vaclav Luks and Shunske Sato at Barcelona’s Petit Palau, Messiah at London’s St John’s Smith Square, Handel Theodora at Snape Maltings with Dame Sarah Connolly and Christian Curnyn, Bach cantatas at Barcelona’s L’Auditori and under Mark Padmore at Snape Maltings, Dowland songs with Dame Emma Kirkby, Charpentier Reniement de St Pierre and Carissimi Jepthe at Milton Court Concert Hall, Barber’s Dover Beach at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Charpentier Messe à 8 with Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Festival, Brahms German Requiem with San Jose Symphonic Chorus, and Bach B Minor Mass, and Handel L’Allegro and Esther with American Bach Soloists Festival.

Ben has sung in the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner with English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique at the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms Royal Albert Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, and Versailles. In Ghislieri Coro e Orchestra, he has performed at Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Festival d’Ambronay, and recorded Jommelli and Gregorian chant for release on Arcana in 2020. He has also sung with Chanticleer alumni in 10-voice ensemble Clerestory, including a benefit concert hosted by Deborah Voigt and Susan Graham.

Operatic roles include Re di Scozia (Ariodante), Zoroastro (Orlando), and Grand Priest (North American premiere of Marais Sémélé). While at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Ben performed in scenes as Pollux (Castor et Pollux), Consalvo (Handel Almira), Dr Pangloss (Candide), and Sam (Trouble in Tahiti).

Ben’s 2019–20 season includes Pilate in Bach St John Passion at Amsterdam’s Westerkerk (possibly rescheduled due to coronavirus), Fauré Requiem and Bach cantata solos in California, and Messiah in Cincinnati. In 2020–21 he joins Apollo’s Fire as Petrus in Bach St Matthew Passion in Cleveland, Columbus, and Ann Arbor, and sings Bach Cantata 147 with Bach Collegium San Diego.

Ben Kazez graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in 2007. Before beginning to focus on music full time, he spent five years designing language and travel apps that the New York Times deemed “brilliant.” He became a Britten–Pears Young Artist in 2016 and earned a Master of Music at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a scholarship in 2018. He speaks French and Italian.