Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Smith-Kotlarek is a lyric baritone full of passion and energy in his first year at Boston University's Opera Institute, where he studies with Dr. Jerrold Pope. He holds a Master of Music degree in Voice from Indiana University-Bloomington, where he studied with Timothy Noble and played Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte for director Tomer Zvulun and conductor Mark Gibson. His physical talent was highlighted in The Most Happy Fella when he played Clem and was a featured dancer under choreographer Joshua Bergasse. He also worked closely with Professor Carol Vaness as part of her opera workshop, performing scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Eugene Onegin. Smith-Kotlarek completed undergraduate studies to receive a B.M. Voice Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied classical singing with Paul Rowe and jazz with Richard Davis. In Madison Opera's production of Copland's The Tender Land, he performed the roles of Mr. Jenks and Dancer for Director Doug Scholz Carlson and conductor John DeMain. Smith-Kotlarek was an apprentice artist with La Musica Lirica in Italy, and with the Des Moines Metro Opera. Smith-Kotlarek sings in the ensemble for both productions this summer at Ash Lawn Opera.