John Chest (born July 6, 1985) is an American baritone opera singer performing with leading opera companies around the world.
Career John Chest was born in Greenville, South Carolina, to parents Sandra Marie Chest and Robert Davis Chest. He started his professional voice studies at Bob Jones University where he got his Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from 2003 to 2007. He then studied at CCPA (Chicago College of Performing Arts) at Roosevelt University, where he graduated with a Master of Music (Voice Performance) in 2009 after two years.
He joined the apprentice program at Santa Fe Opera for the summer of 2008 where he covered the Bosun in Britten's Billy Budd (an introduction to an opera in which he is now known for playing the title role). Chest joined the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera in 2009 and there sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He concluded his formal studies as a member of the professional at Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 2009 to 2011, singing in more than eighty performances with Germany's largest opera company.
Chest continued to train with the Chicago Opera Theater, in addition to joining the ensemble of Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he remained until 2016. His roles in Berlin included the title role of Billy Budd in a new production by David Alden; Valentin (Faust), Ford (Falstaff), Silvio (Pagliacci), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Gugliemo (Così fan tutte) and Il Conte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro).
A finalist in the BBC Singer of the World Art Song Competition, he has also appeared in recital at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, and Wigmore Hall. He has made appearances on three Fauré CD's with pianist Malcolm Martineau.
Repertory YearRoleComposerOperaLocation2024AristoboloHändelBereniceThéâtre des Champs-Elysées2024MarcelloPucciniLa bohèmeTrondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera 2023FigaroRossiniIl barbiere di SivigliaKraków Philharmonic2023GuglielmoMozartCosì fan tutteOpera Theatre of St Louis2023Il Conte di AlmavivaMozartLe nozze di FigaroBayerische Staatsoper2023FigaroRossiniIl barbiere di SivigliaTeatro Regio di Torino2022MelissoHändelAlcinaAngers Nantes Opéra2022Il Conte di AlmavivaMozartLe nozze di FigaroThéâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg2022RodrigueVerdiDon CarlosTheater Basel2021ValensHändelTheodoraTeatro alla Scala2021Il Conte di AlmavivaMozartLe nozze di FigaroGrand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg 2019 Billy Budd Benjamin Britten Billy Budd San Francisco Opera 2018"John Chest Schedule", Operabase. Accessed 6 July 2018. Pelléas Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande Glyndebourne 2018 Marcello Puccini La bohème Semperoper Dresden 2017 Guglielmo Mozart Così fan tutte Bayerische Staatsoper 2017 Billy Budd Benjamin Britten Billy Budd Deutsche Oper Berlin 2017 Nick Carraway John Harbison The Great Gatsby Semperoper Dresden 2017 Conte Almaviva Mozart Le nozze di Figaro Opera Philadelphia 2017 Valentin Gounod Faust Deutsche Oper Berlin 2017 Engel Scartazzini Edward II (world premiere) Deutsche Oper Berlin 2016–17 Papageno Mozart Die Zauberflöte Deutsche Oper Berlin 2016–17 Guglielmo Mozart Così fan tutte Deutsche Oper Berlin 2016–17 Figaro Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia Deutsche Oper Berlin 2016 Valentin Gounod Faust Théâtre du Capitole 2016 Nazarener Strauss Salome Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg 2016 Ein Kappadozier Strauss Salome Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg 2016 Albert Massenet Werther Théâtre des Champs-Elysées 2016 Don Giovanni Mozart Don Giovanni Angers-Nantes Opéra 2016 Marchese d'Obigny Verdi La traviata Deutsche Oper Berlin 2016 Belcore Donizetti L'elisir d'amore Deutsche Oper Berlin 2015Nick Carraway John Harbison The Great Gatsby Semperoper Dresden 2015–16 Figaro Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia Deutsche Oper Berlin 2015 Il Conte di Almaviva Mozart Le nozze di Figaro Deutsche Oper Berlin 2015 Papageno Mozart Die Zauberflöte Deutsche Oper Berlin 2015 Rosalinde Strauss Die Fledermaus Vancouver Opera 2015 Silvio Leoncavallo Pagliacci Deutsche Oper Berlin 2015 Demetrius Benjamin Britten A Midsummer Night's Dream Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 2015 Fritz Korngold Die tote Stadt Opéra national de Lorraine 2015 Fritz Korngold Die tote Stadt Angers-Nantes Opéra 2015 Figaro Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia Deutsche Oper Berlin 2014–15 Papageno Mozart Die Zauberflöte Deutsche Oper Berlin 2014 Ford Verdi Falstaff Deutsche Oper Berlin 2014 Marcello Puccini La bohème Deutsche Oper Berlin 2014 Sprecher Mozart Die Zauberflöte Deutsche Oper Berlin
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