Mark Walters - Baritone

. 

Mark Walters - Baritone, hailed as an exceptional singing actor, has been seen in leading roles throughout the United States and is rapidly gaining international attention with a repertoire of over 50 roles for the lyric stage and 20 oratorio works.  The Chicago Sun Times recently described his portrayal of Don Carlo in La forza del destino as generating “vocal fury.” 

Scheduled so far for the upcoming 2009/2010 season, Walters returns to Florida Grand Opera for his first appearance in the role of Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and returns later in the season to FGO for one of his signature roles, Escamillo in Carmen.  He adds another Verdi role to his growing repertoire when he debuts with Opera Fort Collins as Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore.  He will make a company debut as Germont in La Traviata with Greensboro Opera, returns as Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore with Nevada Opera and as Marcello in La Bohème with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and will appear with Opera Santa Barbara in their A Night at the Paris Opera Benefit Event.  Walters also returns to the Handel Oratorio Society for performances of Messiah at Augustana College, appears with the Choral Society of Pensacola for Hadyn’s The Seasons and will be seen in recital at East Carolina University.

For the current 2008/2009 season, internationally, Walters will appear in Japan in the title role of Don Giovanni with the Osaka Kammer Orchestra and will be featured in concert at the Sakai Noh Theater.  Here at home, he will add two new Verdi roles to his repertoire when he makes his debut as Germont in La Traviata with Florida Grand Opera and returns to Da Corneto Opera in the role of Amonasro in Aida.  He will debut as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Piedmont Opera and return to Opera Memphis as Valentin in Faust.  He will also be seen with Nevada Opera as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia.  In recital Walters will appear on the Bechstein Vocal Series in New York and will conduct mastersclasses at the University of South Florida, William Carey University and North Carolina School of the Arts

During the 2007/2008 season, Walters was heard as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Southwest and with Shreveport Opera. He returned as Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore with Nashville Opera and as Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Anchorage Opera.  Walters was also heard in a special fund raising gala with the Cumberland County Playhouse, he gave a solo recital and masterclass at McNeese State University and appeared as a guest artist in solo recital for the NATS Southern Regional Conference at the University of Mississippi.

For the 2005/2006 season, Walters was asked to portray the role of the Reverend Olin Blitch in a special 50th year anniversary production of Susannah at Florida State University, which was overseen personally by Carlisle Floyd. He debuted with Nevada Opera as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and with Fargo-Moorhead Opera as Nourabad in Les Pêcheurs de perles. He was also seen in return engagements with Sarasota Opera as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus and with Utah Festival Opera as Marcello in La Bohème.  In concert, Walters was heard in recital at Coastal Carolina Community College and returned to the Choral Society of Pensacola for The Creation by Haydn

Highlights of his concert work include his recent debut at Carnegie Hall in Orff’s Carmina Burana and the Fauré Requiem conducted by John Rutter.  In competition, Walters has been a District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Competition, twice a finalist in the MacAllister Awards and he was also the first recipient of the Hannah J. Beaulieu Career Development Award through Florida State University.

Walters has also been involved in a number of world premieres including the leading role of William Clark in Opera Memphis’ recent production of Corps of Discovery by Michael Ching, which celebrated the 200 year anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Other premieres include Good Neighbors by Robert Taylor at the Cumberland Playhouse, Blake by Leslie Adams with the Cleveland Choral Society and The Children of the Keweenaw by Paul Seitz with the Pine Mountain Music Festival.

He is in demand as a recitalist and was featured in Sarasota Opera’s Up Close, In Person, On Stage concert series. Walters has also had the pleasure to premiere the song cycles Of Passion’s Tide by Jeffrey Ryan, 4 Poems of Rossetti by Marty Robinson and Love’s Cycle by Mark Henkin.