Ben Kazez

baritone

Ben’s 2021/22 solo season includes Charpentier Leçon de ténèbre, Médée, and Les Arts Florissants excerpts under William Christie, Pilate and arias in Bach St John Passion at Westerkerk in Amsterdam, B Minor Mass in Provence, Charpentier Messe de minuit and In nativitatem Domini canticum with Bach Collegium San Diego, Schumann Dichterliebe in San Francisco, and Charpentier Les plaisirs de Versailles in Switzerland under Marijana Mijanović and Florian Carré. He also sings in Apollo’s Fire and Philharmonia Baroque, including Bach’s B Minor Mass under Richard Egarr.

Recent concert highlights include Bach Passions, Christmas Oratorio, B Minor Mass, Magnificat, and 39 Bach cantatas, at venues including Barcelona’s Petit Palau, Amsterdam’s Westerkerk, and Snape Maltings (U.K.). From the French baroque Ben has sung Charpentier Reniement de St Pierre and Rameau Aquilon et Orithie at Milton Court Concert Hall, Rameau Thétis at the Berkeley Jazz Conservatory, and Charpentier Messe à 8 at Tafelmusik’s summer festival. In London he sang Buxtehude cantatas at the London Handel Festival, Carissimi Jephte at Milton Court Concert Hall, and Messiah at St John’s Smith Square.

In the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Ben has sung works from Monteverdi Vespers to Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini at the Salzburg Festival, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Versailles, Teatro La Fenice, Westminster Cathedral, and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. In Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri he has sung at Amsterdam Concertgebouw and recorded for Arcana/Outhere.

Before turning to music full time, Ben created language and travel apps that were featured in the New York Times. During the pandemic Ben created a vocal music search engine that has been linked from the libraries at Juilliard, Yale, Stanford, and the Royal Academy of Music, and so far has helped 70,000 people learn about early vocal music.

Ben has appeared in master classes with Martin Katz, Max van Egmond, Peter Harvey, and James Gilchrist. He graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College (Minnesota) and is fluent in French and Italian.