| Biography
"Brian Banion sang as handsomely as he looked and was completely at home with the comic moments." -T-The Post and Courier
Bass-Baritone Brian Banion’s combination of physical and vocal acting is quickly making him one of the more sought-after young American singers today. His versatile, warm, well-projected bass-baritone voice and his natural way of acting are demonstrated in a variety of roles including Leporello in Don Giovanni, Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia, Figaro and Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Escamillo and Zuniga in Carmen, Baron Douphol, Marquis and the Doctor in La Traviata, Doctor in Vanessa, Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress, and Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette. Of a recent performance, Opera News stated, “For simple, beautiful singing, one had to look to bass-baritone Brian Banion’s fierce Nourabad.”
After a debut as Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Asheville Lyric Opera in the 2007-2008 season, Mr. Banion returned as Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, and as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. Engagements for the 2008-2009 season also included a return to Opera Columbus as Nourabad in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, and a debut with Piedmont Opera as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro. Brian makes his debut as Peter Quince in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Princeton Festival in June 2009. The 2009-2010 season includes a return to Opera Columbus as Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette.
In the 2007-2008 season, Mr. Banion created the role of Reverend Arthur Baines in the world premiere of Robert Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry, making his Nashville Opera debut. He reprised Baines in January 2008 in Montclair, New Jersey. Additional recent engagements include a debut with the Spoleto Festival USA as Leporello in the internationally acclaimed Gunter Kramer production of Don Giovanni, Verdi's Requiem on tour throughout France, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain with The Robert Page Festival Singers, a debut with The Lyric Opera of Kansas City as the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as returns to Opera Columbus in La Traviata, The Merry Widow, and as Leporello in Don Giovanni. Brian will return to kick off the finals of The 2009 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Bodybuilding Competition, singing the National Anthem for the fourth straight year.
Additionaly, Mr. Banion has collaborated with a host of major opera companies, symphony orchestras and has also been a featured soloist at festivals here and abroad. These include the Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Columbus, Kentucky Opera, Greensboro Opera, Nevada Opera, Berkshire Opera, Opera Roanoke, Columbus Light Opera, the Cincinnati May Festival, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Halle Symphony Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony, the Carmel Symphony, and the Anderson Symphony. His concert performances include Mendelssohn's Elijah, Beethoven Ninth Symphony, Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Fauré Requiem, Bach Passions, and Schubert Mass in A-flat and G.
Brian Banion has won awards in several important vocal competitions, including those of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation, Opera Index Grant, Opera Columbus Vocal Competition, and the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship. The young singer performed graduate work at Indiana University, where he studied with the now-retired Metropolitan Opera bass, Giorgio Tozzi. He completed his undergraduate degree from Capital University, where he stud
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