Matthew Zadow, baritone
“Also notable was the Count of Matthew Zadow in an impressive role debut. His handsome stage presence combined with a pleasing lyric baritone made his Almaviva less of a cad than usual.”
- Joseph So review of “Le Nozze di Figaro” Opera Canada Magazine, February 2007
Canadian baritone Matthew Zadow, graduate of Queen’s University and protégé of baritone Bruce Kelly, is fast developing an international singing career. Equally at ease in recital, oratorio or on the stage, he has recently added a number of contemporary opera roles to his repertoire, including "Fellowship" (The Summoning of Everyman - Opera in Concert - Toronto), "Hans Scholl" (Die Weiße Rose - MacMillan Theatre), and “Ben” (Night-Blooming Cereus – OIC); most recently, Matthew created the roles of "Jack Worthing" in The Importance of Being Earnest for Stratford Summer Music and “Sir William Johnson” in a US-Canadian production of the historical chamber opera Molly Brant.
Traditional roles include “Conte Almaviva” (Le Nozze di Figaro – Opera York), "Dancaïre" (Carmen - OY), “Morales / Zuniga” (Carmen - Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Kingston Symphony), "L'Horloge Comptoise / Le chat" (L'Enfant et les Sortileges - RCM/Glenn Gould School), “Baron Douphol / Doctor Grenvil” (La Traviata - KSO), "Manuel / Cantaor" (La Vida Breve - SOLT), and “Cristiano” and “Il Giudice” in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (Opera2005). Matthew also appears on the Naxos CD release of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux (Aradia Ensemble/OIC) and Toreador Records’ art song release Magic Breath (Helen Medwedeff Greenberg). Operetta roles include “Danilo” (The Merry Widow - OY), "Don Pedro" (El Barberillo de Lavapies - Toronto Operetta Theatre), “Rudi” (Land of Smiles - TOT), "Bob Beckett" (H.M.S. Pinafore - KSO) and "Pish-Tush" (Mikado - Kingston Meistersingers).
Sacred works include Messiah, the Brahms, Mozart, Fauré, and Duruflé Requiem masses, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesänge and Mendelssohn's Elijah, Bach's Magnificat, Mass in B-minor, Himmelfahrts-Oratorium and most recently the solo baritone cantata Ich will den Kreutzstab gerne tragen. Recent concert performances include Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (Toronto Philharmonia), the Mozart Requiem (Toronto’s Christ Church Deer Park), Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony and Elgar’s Coronation Ode (Toronto Classical Singers).
In July 2005, Matthew visited the south of France to continue his vocal studies with the renowned French tenor and director Pierre Fleta, and in 2007 moved to Brussels, Belgium to pursue a European career. The 2008-2009 season included a debut with Antwerp’s Octopus Kammerchor in Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a recital for the Canadian chamber music series Music on the RIdeau, his Irish debut in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, a Brahms Requiem (April - Perth, Ontario), and a return to Antwerp’s Octopus Kammerchor as “False Witness” in Mendelssohn’s Paulus in May.
In November he performs Brahms’ Requiem with the Kingston Symphony, and in December returns to Toronto for two performances of Bachʼs Weihnachtsoratorium and Corneliusʼ Three Kings with conductor Stephanie Martin and Torontoʼs Pax Christi Chorale, followed by a Christmas Eve midnight mass at St. Mary Magdalene featuring Taverner’s God is With Us. In January 2010 Matthew performs Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs at Antwerp’s St. Carolus Borromeus Church, and debuts with the Belgian ensemble BL!NDMAN in Bruges, Antwerp, and Brussels performances of a new programme of music ancient and modern including Byrd, Buxtehude, Webern, Saariaho and a new work by Luc Brewaeys. In February 2010 Matthew is the featured baritone soloist in a “Best of Broadway” concert with the Mississauga Choral Society at the Living Arts Centre, and presents music of Widor, Franck, Bizet, and Ravel in recital at St. James Anglican church with composer and organist Andrew Ager. In April he debuts with Antwerp’s Vocaal Collectief in Bach’s Johannes Passion, followed by a Brussels recital with Viennese pianist and conductor Peter Tomek of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin.
Engaged by:
* BL!NDMAN collective (Antwerp/Bruges/Brussels/Amsterdam)
* Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto)
* Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown, PEI)
* Glenn Gould School / Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (guest artist)
* Kingston Symphony
* Melos Ensemble of Kingston
* Mississauga Choral Society
* Music on the Rideau
* Octopus Kammerchor (Antwerp)
* Opera2005 (Cork, Ireland)
* Opera In Concert
* Opera York
* Pax Christi Chorale (Toronto)
* Quinte Symphony
* Saint Carolus Borromeus Church (Antwerp)
* St. James Anglican Church (Toronto)
* Stratford Summer Music
* Summer Opera Lyric Theatre
* Toronto Classical Singers
* Toronto Operetta Theatre
* Toronto Philharmonia
* Vocaal Collectief (Antwerp)
“Soprano Marta Ewa Matulewicz (Sophie) had to negotiate a very high tessitura, while baritone Matthew Zadow (Hans) had to cope with dramatic declamation as well as arioso passages. Both young Canadian artists show great promise.”
- Paula Citron review of “Die Weisse Rose”, Opera Canada, January 2005
“Count Danilo [was] sung by Matthew Zadow in a youthful and rich baritone voice. Tall, dark and handsome, he played a very convincing playboy, plagued by doubts and lack of commitment, yet pursued by woman everywhere. ”
- Sybille Forster-Rentmeister review of “The Merry Widow”,
Echo Germanica, May 2003
“Up-and-coming baritone Matthew Zadow continued to show great promise as Don Pedro, the erstwhile villain, displaying fine, rolling tones.”
- Paula Citron review of “El Barberillo de Lavapies”, Opera Canada, June 2005