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The American tenor, Corby Welch, studied at the University of Minnesota with Lawrence Weller. Since 1998 he studies with Rudolf Piernay at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim/Heidelberg. Active participation in master-classes with Kurt Equiluz, John Wustman and Margo Garrett completed his educational experience.
An active and much asked for oratorio singer, Corby Welch´s repertoire spreads from Monteverdi´s Vespers to J.S. Bach's Passions, L.v. Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis to Penderecki´s Credo. His recent engagements include Die Erste Walpurgisnacht by Felix Mendelssohn with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Arnold Schoenberg´s and Riehn’s chamber version of Gustav Mahler´s Das Lied von der Erde, Franck Martin´s In Terra pax and Haydn´s Lord Nelson Mass in the Zürich Tonhalle, W.A. Mozart's Requiem in Bruneck and Toblach in Tirol, Italy, Monteverdi´s Vespers with the Baroque orchestra L'Arpe Festante Munich and the Zwerenberg Vocal Ensemble, J.S. Bach´s St. John Passion (BWV 245) with the Baroque Orchestra Frankfurt in Wiesbaden, Haydn´s Creation in the Palais de l’UNESCO in Paris, as well as in Minneapolis, Heidelberg and Freiburg, L.v. Beethoven´s 9th Symphony with the Orquestra do Norte in Porto, Portugal, F. Mendelssohn's Elias, Sergei Rachmaninov´s Vespers and Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with the Minnesota Chorale. In addition Corby Welch has performed frequently as soloist under Helmuth Rilling: in F. Mendelssohn's 42nd Psalm and L.v. Beethoven´s Choral Fantasy at the Oregon Bach Festival, Part I of Georg Frideric Handel´s Messiah in Stuttgart, and in lecture concerts on Penderecki´s Credo in Krakow, Poland.
Alongside his busy oratorio career, Corby Welch appears ever more frequently on the opera stage. Other than his first roles with the University of Minnesota Opera Theatre, he sang First Prisoner in L.v. Beethoven´s Fidelio starring Gary Lakes and Christine Brewer with Hugh Wolff and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Philistine Messenger in Samson et Dalila of Camille Saint-Saëns featuring Ben Heppner and Denice Graves with Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra, and Bardolfo in Verdi´s Falstaff with Jeffry Kahane at the Oregon Bach Festival. He also created the role of first Hermit in The Three Hermits, a one-act opera by the American composer Stephen Paulus, recorded on CD by D'Note Classics.
Corby Welch has made his Berlin debut in a concert version of Kurt Weill´s Protagonist at the Berliner Philharmonie with the Deutsche Sinfonie Orchester conducted by John Mauceri and interpreted the tenor part in W.A. Mozart´s c-minor Mass under the baton of Christian Kabitz. He made his debut as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte as well as the 1. Fremder in Vetter aus Dingsda at the Rostocker Volkstheater. He has been engaged by Thomas Hengelbrock for the Schwetzinger Festival and Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2001, where he performed in L´Anima del Filosofo and Schöpfung by J. Haydn as well as in the Schleswig-Holstein Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival and in different concerts in Italy and Spain. He also has been invited for the the Europäisches Musikfest in Stuttgart 2001, where he sang the tenor part under Christoph Spering in Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle.
Projects in 2001-2002 include among others Corby Welch's debut at the Nederlandse Reisopera in G.F. Handel`s Ariodante/ Lucarnio, his debut at the Aalto Theater Essen Ariadne auf Naxos/ Brighella, the Verdi Requiem at the Kölner Philharmonie, a CD-production under the baton of Frieder Bernius singing the main part in the cantata Lenore of A. Rejcha, an invitation to the Oregon Bach Festival with works of Bruckner and Penderecki and his successful debut as Nemorino/ L’elisir d’amore at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele 2002. He also sang a concert with Kent Nagano and the Deutsches Sinfonie Orchester Berlin with Plácido Domingo at the Berlin Philharmonie as well as the L.v. Beethoven IX with Eije Oue and the Orchestra of the NDR in Hannover.
In the season 2002-2003 Corby Welch sings Jüngling/Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Megaron in Athen with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under Michael Schoenwandt and stage director Michael Hampe, Entführung a. d. Serail/ Pedrillo and a new production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea under Alessandro de Marchi and Karoline Gruber at the Hamburg State Opera and Ariadne auf Naxos/ Brighella again at the Aalto Musiktheater Essen and also at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon under Zoltán Peskó and stage director Toni Servillo.
Corby Welch is also invited to sing with the Orchestra and Choir of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia under Wolfgang Sawallisch Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri and with the Wiener Akademie and the Tölzer Knabenchor he will sing the tenor part in the Messias at the Kölner Philharmonie under Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden. With the beginning of the season 2003-2004 he became member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf where he sings all the important roles for lyric tenor such as Belmonte/ Entführung a. d. Serail, Tamino/ Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio/Cosi fan tutte and Flamand/ Capriccio.
Corby Welch's projects for 2004-2005 include recordings with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln under Semyon Bychkov (Elektra) as well as with the Berlin Radio Orchestra (RSB) under Marek Janowski (Paul Hindemith, Das lange Weihnachtsmahl). He will also be on tour with Christoph Spering and with Daniel Reuss and the RIAS-Kammerchor and give his Italian opera debut in Ferrara (Ariadne auf Naxos).
Different CD-Productions document his artistic career (Stephan Paulus The Three Hermits d´Note Classics, Kurt Weill’s Der Protagonist Capriccio, awarded in 2003 with the Cannes Classical Award). The label Orfeo just produced the cantata Lenore of the Czech composer A. Rejcha's with Corby Welch in the main part and under Frieder Bernius. |
