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 concert hall, cathedral 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 a workshop production of 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 opera 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), and "Manuel / Cantaor" (La Vida Breve - SOLT). Matthew also appears on the Naxos international 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. In August, 2007 he moved to Brussels, Belgium to pursue a European career, and recently debuted with Antwerp’s Octopus Kammerchor and conductor Bart Van Rejn in Handel’s Dixit Dominus. He visited Canada in summer 2008 to sing at the Queen’s University’s Convocation Ceremonies and to perform as a recitalist with the Music on the Rideau concert series. In September 2008 he debuts in Cork, Ireland as “Cristiano” and “Il Giudice” in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, and in 2009 returns to Canada for a Messiah tour with the celebrated conductor Kerry Stratton.
Engaged by:
* Confederation Centre of the Arts, (Charlottetown, PEI)
* Glenn Gould School / Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (guest artist)
* Kingston Symphony
* Melos Ensemble of Kingston
* Music on the Rideau
* Octopus Kammerchor (Antwerp)
* Opera2005 (Cork, Ireland)
* Opera In Concert
* Opera York
* Quinte Symphony
* Summer Opera Lyric Theatre
* Stratford Summer Music
* Toronto Operetta Theatre
* Toronto Classical Singers
* Toronto Philharmonia
“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