Baritone Robert Honeysucker is recognized internationally for his brilliant opera, concert and recital performances. His voice has inspired critical acclaim: "...powerful, passionate and plaintive....a voice that possesses great richness and warmth." Honored as 1995 "Musician of the Year" by The Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer, Mr. Honeysucker has also been a winner of the National Opera Association Artists Competition and a recipient of the New England Opera Club Jacopo Peri Award.
Robert Honeysucker's opera performances have included the roles of Amonasro, Germont, Iago, Renato, Rigoletto and Sharpless. He sang the role of Escamilio with the Boston Lyric Opera in a performance of Carmen for over 100,000 people in two nights on Boston Common and, most recently, the role of Miller (Luisa Miller) with Opera Boston. He has additionally appeared with such companies as Connecticut Opera, Delaware Opera, Eugene Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Sacramento Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Utah Opera.
Overseas, Mr. Honeysucker has performed such roles as Don Giovanni, Figaro, Sharpless, and Porgy in Auckland, New Zealand; Jake in Berlin, Germany; and Daedalus in the world premiere of Icarus, by Paul Earls, at Brucknerfest in Linz, Austria. Additionally, he has appeared in opera concerts in the Persian Gulf directed by Cesare Alfieri, as well as numerous concerts in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Recent engagements include: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Osaka Philharmonic (Japan); ensemble soloist and cover for James Morris in Elijah with Handel and Haydn Society, directed by Christopher Hogwood; the role of Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera with Boston Academy of Music; and bass soloist in the world premiere of Howard Frazin's The Voice of Issac with PALS Children's Chorus.
Robert Honeysucker has enjoyed many engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, including an appearance as soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in celebration of Seiji Ozawa's twenty-fifth season as Music Director. He has most recently appeared as baritone soloist in All Rise (Wynton Marsalis), conducted by Kurt Masur at Symphony Hall, with a repeat performance at Tanglewood. His other appearances with the Boston Pops include the annual Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade, conducted by John Williams, as well as concerts conducted by Keith Lockhart and Harry Ellis Dickson. Other orchestral appearances have included Missa Solemnis with the Northwest Bach Festival Orchestra, directed by Gunther Schuller; Charles Ives' General William Booth Enters into Heaven, with the Pittsburgh Symphony, directed by Michael Tilson Thomas at Great Woods Performing Arts Center; Aaron Copland's Old American Songs with Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra; Carmina Burana with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and Omaha Symphony Orchestra; and Hodie (Vaughn Williams) with the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir, directed by Keith Lockhart, which was televised on PBS. He has also performed with St. Louis Symphony, Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) and Sacramento Symphony Orchestra. Engagements in Japan have featured him as soloist with the Tokyo Symphony in Handel's Messiah; The Telemann Chamber Orchestra in Osaka in Bach's Christmas Oratorio, with Jeffrey Rink, conductor; and the Kansai Chamber Orchestra in Kobe and Kyoto in performance of Handel's Messiah and Bach cantatas.
Mr. Honeysucker is a member of Videmus, as well as member and co-founder of the Jubilee Trio, which presents American art songs, including those of under-performed African American composers.
Discography includes performances on four Videmus discs: "Music of William Grant Still" (New World), "Watch and Pray" (Koch International), "More Still" (Cambria), and "Starlight and Sweet Dreams" (Centaur). Mr. Honeysucker is also featured on the Ongaku and Titanic labels and on the Albany Records recording "Highway 1, USA" (Wm. Grant Still).
