Mark Gardner
Mark Gardner, Baritone, originally from Detroit MI, graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and a Bachelor of Music in Voice from Wayne State University in 2001. In 2004 Mark received a Masters degree in voice from the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. Opera roles include Keith/Earl/Father in Lee Hoiby's "This is the Rill Speaking", Marco in "Gianni Schicchi", Sid in "Albert Herring", Bob in "The Old Maid and the Thief" (Opera Peabody), Dimitri Petrovski in "The Music Shop" (Baltimore Artscape), Pish-Tush in "Mikado, Prince Yamadori from "Madama Butterfly", and Fiorello from "The Barber of Seville" (Annapolis Opera). Mark has premiered two Canadian works; Mark Richards' "Hamlet" as part of the Stratford Summer Music Festival, and "A Stronger Thought of Love" with Orpheus Productions. Mark has been the recipient of many awards including a Peabody Career grant, a Peabody talent scholarship, the David Adamany Scholarship, and placed second in the Richardson vocal competition and the Andrews University International Voice Competition. He also performed with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra as part of their "Five Star Opera Gala". Recent operatic engagements include the role of Sharpless in Kitchener Opera's "Madama Butterfly" and the roles of Germont in "La Traviata" and Belore in "L'Elisir d'Amore" as part of the Centre for Opera studies in Sulmana, Italy, and Marcello in Opera York's production of La Boheme. Mark is looking forward to performing Count Almaviva in Opera Kitchener's "Le Nozze di Figaro."
