Branch Fields, bass
Described by Opera America as "a bass of resonant richness" and by the New York Times as "a gifted young bass", Mr. Fields was recently chosen to understudy the role of Emile de Becque in South Pacific at the Lincoln Center Theater, a Bartlett Sher-directed production which has won seven Tony Awards.
Mr. Fields was busy in 2007-08, his third season performing with the New York City Opera, singing the roles of Angelotti in Tosca, Major Domo in Vanessa and Zuniga in Carmen. Last season also included performances at Asheville Lyric Opera and Opera Company of North Carolina as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and at Opera on the James as Colline in La Bohème. An audience favorite, Mr. Fields has been invited to return in 2009-2010 by these regional companies. He joined the New York City Opera roster in 2005-06, and the following season marked Mr. Fields' mainstage debut as Zuniga in Carmen, a role he has reprised at New York City Opera and Princeton Festival.
In 2007 Mr. Fields created the role of John Rolfe in the world-premiere of Pocahontas, commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival and Virginia Opera in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. Of this performance, a critic wrote, "[Mr. Fields] brought a big, clear, gorgeous bass to the role ... with such warmth, passion and tenderness" (Portfolio Weekly).
As an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe Opera in 2002 and 2003, he performed the roles of The Captain in Eugene Onegin, Kuligin in Katya Kabanova and one of the Accusers in Bright Sheng's Madame Mao. Following his apprenticeships at Santa Fe Opera, he was guest soloist with the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus in Brahms’ Ein deutches Requiem and Handel’s Messiah and for Christmas concerts with the Santa Fe Opera. He sang with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic in Mozart’s Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem and with the National Symphony Orchestra, under Leonard Slatkin, as the Fifth Jew in a concert version of Salome starring Deborah Voigt. Other concert performances include two solo recitals for Art Song of Williamsburg, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Williamsburg Choral Guild and Christmas Concerts with The Williamsburg Symphonia. His oratorio appearances include Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Christmas Oratorio, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.
After completing an undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech, Branch won the Cole and Kate Porter Memorial Scholarship to attend music school at Indiana University where he studied with Giorgio Tozzi. Upon graduation with a master's degree, he was granted a coveted spot at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, a full-scholarship institution. He received grants to summer opera programs in Chiari, Luca and Rome, Italy. In Rome he served as an artist/faculty member for the Opera Festival di Roma, singing Don Basilio in Il Barbieri di Siviglia, which received the 2001 National Opera Association Award. Mr. Fields was the 1999 winner of the Anna Maria Saritelli-DiPanni Bel Canto Competition, took second place in the NJAPA Vocal Competition (2000) and tied for fourth place in the Liederkranz Foundation Competition (2000).
