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| Harry N. Dunstan, Founding Artistic Director |
HARRY DUNSTAN, tenor and Founding Artistic Director of The American Center
for Puccini Studies, has appeared with major regional orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States. As a performer
who looks forward toward authentic, historically informed performances, he is equally at home on the opera, concert, or recital
stage and his repertoire ranges from early to contemporary music, including roles in Haydn’s L’isola disabitata,
Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, and Kari Juusela’s modern opera, Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland,
winner of the Vienna State Opera Award.
Recent operatic performances have included Cavaradossi in Tosca
(“...rich and vibrant voice...” Gazette); Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West ("It is certainly
his best role." Concertnet.com); Roberto in Puccini’s Le villi; Luigi in ll tabarro, the
title role in Puccini’s Edgar ("....heroic, ringing voice...." Concertonet.com); Rodolfo
in La boheme (“...a bright and booming voice.” Palm Beach Post); and Marcello in the rarely
heard Leoncavallo La boheme. He has appeared as The Prince in Sweethearts for the Maytime Light Opera
Company (“...gorgeous natural lyric tenor...stylishly exploited.” Washington Post); the Besenbinder in
Humperdinck’s Die Königskinder for Sarasota Opera; and as Don Jose in Carmen and Pinkerton in
Madama Butterfly for the Society of the Classical Arts (FL).
He has been a featured soloist at such venues
as the Kennedy Center, Wolftrap, Constitution Hall, the Smithsonian Museum, and the Organization of American States. He was
the featured soloist in the Papal mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II, which was seen by an international audience of over
200 million. His singing has been featured on all major television and cable networks in both national and international broadcasts:
as the featured soloist for the Corpus Christi Symphony’s Star Spangled Fourth! (“His performance created
a wildly enthusiastic audience.” Corpus Christi Post) and Night in Vienna also with Corpus Christi; in
National Public Radio’s broadcast of Naughty Marietta; and as the voice of Otello in the Love Duet for the
popular TV sitcom, Big Brother Jake.
As a stage director, he has directed operas for music festivals both
in the United States and Europe, including productions of The Telephone, The Old Maid and the Thief, A
Hand of Bridge, and the world premier of Vignettes of Passion.
In addition to his performing career,
Dr. Dunstan is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the life, works, and performing practices of
Giacomo Puccini, and his doctoral thesis on Puccini is international recognized for its contribution to Puccini scholarship
worldwide. Dr. Dunstan is a frequent lecturer at major universities and acts as consultant to a number of opera companies
in the United States and Europe.
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