Joseph Muir
Having been described
as possessing a “lyric lilt of indescribable
tenderness,” young American tenor Joseph Muir is
rapidly making his presence known on the American
opera stage.
The 2005 season
will see Mr. Muir as the tenor soloist in Mozart’s
Great Mass in C minor with the Midsummer Mozart
Festival in San Francisco under the baton of Maestro
George Cleve. He will then sing the role of Count Almaviva in “Il barbiere di Siviglia” with Opera
Plus in Northern Idaho. Mr. Muir was recently
invited to sing the role of Albert Herring with the
University of North Texas Opera Center.
In 2004 he
appeared with Fort Worth Opera in their fall
production of Salome. In the summer, he was invited
back to Santa Fe Opera for a second season as an
apprentice artist. Prior to his engagement with
Santa Fe Opera, he was chosen as a Principle Artist
in Residence for the 2003-2004 season at Opera San
Jose. While in San Jose, Joseph sang the roles of
Ernesto in “Don Pasquale,” Nadir in “The Pearl
Fishers”, Beppe in “Pagliacci” and lastly Alfred in
“Die Fledermaus.” He was reviewed in San Jose as
being a “wonderfully musical singer,” as well
as having “beautifully tapered phrases and
dynamic range that included beautiful piano and mesa
di voce singing.” Before joining Opera
San Jose, he was a guest artist with the University
of Washington Opera Theater where he sang the role
of Jenick in “The Bartered Bride.” In 2002-2003,
Mr. Muir was selected to be a participant in the
Seattle Opera Young Artist Program where the tenor
performed the role of Rodolfo in “La Boheme.”
Originally from
southern California, he received his musical
training at Mt. San Antonio College as well as the
University of North Texas. Before venturing into
opera, the tenor performed and recorded both as a
soloist and a chorister with such organizations as
the Moses Hogan Chorale and the Mountainside Master
Chorale. It was with the latter that he was
featured as a soloist in the 1998 Eistedfodd in
LLangollen, Wales. The event was televised
nationally on the BBC.
The tenor’s
operatic debut came with the role of St. Brioche
in Opera San Jose’s 1999 production of Die
lustige Witwe. The following season, Mr.
Muir moved to Texas where worked extensively with
the Fort Worth Opera in roles such as Nathanael
in Les Contes de Hoffman, El Remendado
in Carmen, and Flavio in Norma.
In addition to his mainstage credits, Mr. Muir
performed with the Fort Worth Children’s Opera Tour
as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicci,
Tamino in Die Zauberflote, and
Prince Ramiro in La Cenerentola. Mr.
Muir has been both a semi-finalist as well as a
Grand finalist in the Dallas Opera Guild
Competition. He won first place in the Seattle
Opera Young Artists Competition in 2003 with
distinguished judges as Jane Eaglen and Sherri
Greenawald. He also participated in the Santa Fe
Opera Apprentice Program for two seasons..
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