Artist Profiles

Joel Burcham, Tenor

Joel Burcham, Tenor

A tenor voice of "clarion tone and operatic power" is quickly bringing Joel Burcham to the attention of conductors and directors throughout the Midwest. His growing list of venues includes Madison Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Opera Omaha, and Central City Opera. His Pang with Madison Opera received top marks for both musical capabilities and humor.

Mr. Burcham made his professional operatic debut when, as the understudy apprentice artist, he was given the opportunity to sang Lindoro in L'Italiana in Algeri for Central City Opera. Other operatic roles include Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, and Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola.

This season includes the tenor soloist in the Lloyd Webber Requiem with Wichita Symphony, his Madison Symphony debut as the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana, and the role of Philippe in Romberg's The New Moon at the Music by the Lake festival in Lake Geneva. In 2008, Mr. Burcham will return to Madison Opera to sing Martin in Copeland's The Tender Land.

Following his debut with the Utah Symphony in Beethoven's Mass in C he was asked to return for a performance of Messiah. He has also enjoyed a return engagement with the Omaha Symphony as a participant in their 2003 and 2005 Choral Collaborative, a concert featuring operatic excerpts for soloist and chorus. He has performed Britten's Serenade for Tenor and Horn with the Camerata Orchestra.

With degrees from Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville and the University of Arkansas, Mr. Burcham is soon to complete his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Wisconsin.

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