Brandon Wood
Tenor
New England Finalist, 2008

Brandon Wood has a repertoire that includes a variety of roles of disparate styles and covering different periods such as Paolino in Domenico Cimarosa's 18th century masterpiece, the rarely-performed Il Matrimonio Segreto and of the same period, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte which served as his European debut at Opera Festival di Roma where he returned for Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.  He has also sung late 19th century works such as Rodolfo in La Bohème, both Eisenstein and Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Edwin in the Gilbert & Sullivan Trial by Jury. His modern repertoire includes Bob Crachit in Thea Musgrave's A Christmas Carol, as well as Carl Magnus in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. After attending Virginia Commonwealth University , Brandon participated in the Virginia Opera Apprentice Program. He won State and Regional first place awards in the NATS Competition and was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1999, 2004 and 2006. He was also invited to participate in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program in the summers of 2004 and 2005. In May of 2006, Brandon made his Carnegie Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Mozart's C minor Mass with the New York Choral Society under the baton of John Daly Goodwin. After being seen in a Santa Fe Apprentice Showcase by a representative of the New York City Opera, he was invited to join the Company to cover two roles in the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen's, Haroun and The Sea of Stories. 2007 began with Brandon being named a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the New England Region. He went on to recital with Maestro John Moriarty, Sarah Jakubiak and Raymond Ayers. In May of 2007, Brandon created the role of Captain John Smith in Linda Tutas Haugen’s Pocahontas for the Virginia Arts Festival.

Thus far in 2008 Brandon has been named a national semi-finalist in the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year competition. In April, he will return to Virginia Opera as Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor under the baton of Peter Mark. In May, Brandon will be in concert with his wife, Danielle Hermon Wood in the young artists series at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute.

Return to List of Finalists