The highly acclaimed, world-renowned, operatic baritone came to Boston Court for the first time with his newly conceived one-man, cabaret-style show.

The Artist

Rod Gilfry was born and raised in Southern California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University Fullerton, and a Master of Music in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California, where he has been an Associate Professor of Vocal Arts since 2008. He was a member of the Frankfurt Opera from 1987 to 1989, and the Zürich Opera from 1989 to 1994. The two-time Grammy nominee, singer and actor has performed in all the world’s music capitals. He is acclaimed world-wide in opera, musicals, recitals and cabaret. He has created 12 leading roles in opera world premieres, most recently in the one-man opera by David Lang, The Loser (Brooklyn Academy of Music, Los Angeles Opera). Other recent opera world premieres include Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life (Houston, San Francisco) Matthew Aucoin’s Crossing (Boston, Los Angeles) Brett Dean’s Hamlet, (the Glyndebourne Festival, Adelaide Festival) and Christian Jost’s Rote Laterne (Zurich Opera). In July he premiered Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light with Renée Fleming and the Boston Symphony at the Tanglewood Festival. Other recent appearances include: New York Philharmonic in Vail, CO; San Diego Symphony (Aucoin, Mahler), Korea National Opera (Mozart Cosi fan Tutte), Santa Fe Opera (Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Mozart Cosi fan Tutte), Phoenix Symphony (Brahms Requiem), Metropolitan Opera (The Merry Widow, Thomas Adès The Exterminating Angel), Los Angeles Master Chorale (Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Mozart Requiem, Shawn Kirchner’s Songs of Ascent), Edinburgh Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, NYC Mostly Mozart Festival (Cosi fan Tutte), San Francisco Symphony (The Tempest), Alabama Symphony (Beethoven 9tth Symphony), Vienna Volksoper (Kismet), New York City Opera (Anna Nicole), Aix-en-Provence Festival (Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte), Quebec City Festival (The Tempest), London Royal Opera Covent Garden (Anna Nicole), National Tour of the Lincoln Center Production of South Pacific (Emile de Becque)Recent recordings include Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life, Great Voices Sing John Denver, Matson’s Cooperstown, Stucky’s August 4th, 1964. Upcoming engagements: recitals/master classes at Messiah College, Old Dominion University, World premiere of Aucoin’s Eurydice at L.A. Opera, Recordings of Aucoin’s Crossing and Lang’s the loser, Dutch Radio Orchestra (Dean’s Hamlet), concert tour with Renée Fleming (Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light) Colorado Symphony, National Symphony at Kennedy Center, Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at the Metropolitan Opera.

Christopher Denny has enjoyed a twenty-year association as musical director, arranger and pianist with Rod Gilfry. A multi-Bistro and MAC Award winner, he has also served in the same capacities for such theater and cabaret luminaries as Julie Wilson, Karen Mason, Brent Barrett, Lorna Dallas, David Campbell, Tammy Grimes, Gregg Edelman, David Burnham, Ron Raines, Faith Prince, Jason Graae, Andrea Marcovicci, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Loudon, Kaye Ballard, Jeff Harnar and Steven Brinberg. His forty-year career has taken him to virtually all of the major venues in New York and throughout the U.S., notably including Carnegie Hall, where he performed his own arrangements with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, as well as to Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, Paris and London’s West End. Film work includes having produced the recording sessions of Placido Domingo for Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-winning musical film, Moulin Rouge. In recent seasons, he was musical director for a NY concert version of the musical, Romance Romance, and for Karen Mason’s play with music, Unfinished Business, at the NY Musical Theater Festival; he contributed several dance arrangements to an evening of Josh Rhodes’ choreography, All Singing, All Dancing, featuring top Broadway dancers at Town Hall in NYC; was co-creator and arranger for David Arthur’s new musical, Saratoga Trunk Songs, staged at the York Theater (NYC) and the Stages Festival (Chicago); and was also musical director for the New York premiere of Bob Merrill’s “lost” musical, The Prince of Grand Street, starring Mike Burstyn, at the Jewish Repertory Theater. Other favorite NY theatrical credits include musical direction for the world premiere of Barry Kleinbort’s hit musical revue, Big City Rhythm; for The Songs of Kurt Weill, starring Kitty Carlisle Hart and Paula Lawrence; and for Joshua and Nedda Logan’s musical memoir, I Remember It Well; as well as assisting Agnes de Mille in preparing the gala dance concert, Agnes de Mille and Friends, at the Shubert Theater. As a vocal coach, he has worked privately with many promising newcomers as well as established stars while also regularly teaching performance workshops and masterclasses for singers at universities and conservatories in the U.S and abroad. He has recorded about thirty-five albums, including Rod Gilfry’s live concert CD (and DVD), My Heart Is So Full Of You.