Photo: Christophe Haesevoets
Robert Chafin
The American tenor Robert Chafin was born in Virginia and studied at the University of Cincinnati - College Conservatory of Music. After completing his Masters of Music, he made his European debut in 1989, followed by his first engagement with the Nationaltheater Mannheim. Later on he was featured as tenor soloist with the Theater Freiburg and the Staatsoper Hannover.
Robert Chafin has performed in over 40 operas, beginning his career with the major roles of Mozart and Rossini, recently adding to his repertoire such roles as Apollo Daphne, Max Der Freischütz, Erik Der Fliegende Holländer, Midas Die Liebe der Danae, Enée Les Troyens, Don José Carmen as well as Laca Jenufa and Duca di Lavrenne in Meyerbeer’s Margherita d’Anjou and title role Les Contes d’Hoffmann. In these and other roles, Chafin has guested in New York, Stockholm, Vienna, Frankfurt, Strasbourg, Berlin (Deutsche Oper), Kiel, Leipzig, Brussels and Luxemburg, among others. International acclaim for his Franz Schreker interpretations of Flammen and Christophorus show the versatility and the flexibility of this artist.
Mr. Chafin has been a frequent soloist with orchestras and leading choral ensembles throughout Europe and America. He has worked with such conductors as Donald Runnicles, Fréderic Chaslin, Markus Stenz, Michel Plasson, Gary Bertini, Nicolas Geogeghan, Stefan Anton Reck, Edo de Waart, Renée Jacobs, and Eve Queler.
Highlights include his Carnegie Hall debut in 1996 as Goffredo Armida by Rossini with Opera Orchestra of New York, performing as featured soloist in the Paris opening of the Schubertiade '97 at the Theatre des Champs - Élyseés with the Stuttgarter Kammerchor, making his Belgian debut in the Flanders' Festival (Rodrigo Rossini's Otello), and working with maestro Alberto Zedda at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as Tebaldo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi.
Mr. Chafin was featured as Dionysos in the Vara-Radio broadcast of Henze’s Die Bassariden, a Holland Premiere with Markus Stenz conducting. His recordings include Stravinsky's In Memoriam Dylan Thomas and Hindemith's Das Unaufhörliche for both radio and television (in a live recording at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, maestro Dimitri Kitajenko), as well as the operas Flammen, Christophorus by Franz Schreker, and Midas in Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss, released in December 2003. A CD of a concert performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide at the Berlin Philharmonie (2005) is also available. In recent years, Robert Chafin has continued to expand his repertoire towards the jugendliche Heldentenor fach as a regular guest with the Leipzig Opera and has made house debuts at the Monnaie Opera in Brussels with Der Fliegende Holländer (2005) as well as at the Opéra National du Rhin as Enée in a new production of Berlioz’ Les Troyens (2006).
Engagements this season include title role Don Carlos for Staatsoper Hannover, his Covent Garden debut as First Armed Man Die Zauberflöte, title role Hoffmann in Wiesbaden and his ENO debut as Grand Inquisitor, Captain, Governor, Vanderdendur and Ragotski in the new production of Candide. Subsequent engagements include Menelaus Die Ägyptische Helena for the Deutsche Oper, Berlin in the 2008/2009 season.
Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Lucy Goddard
