Sam Handley

Vocalists — Bass-Baritone

Manager: William G. Guerri
Management Territory: Worldwide

Sam Handley as Leporello sang with a clear, sharp bass that filled the theater with ease. —Chicago Classical Voice

Bass-baritone Sam Handley easily had that gift, roaring out a commanding rendition of "Le veau d'or" (The golden calf) from Gounod's "Faust", which rattled the rafters and riveted the mind. —San Francisco Classical Voice

About

A graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, Sam Handley has been praised for “his rich, burnished” voice and the “genuine emotional depth of his characterizations.” As a member of the Ryan Opera Center, he performed more than a dozen roles, including Quince in Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Tom in “Un ballo in maschera”. After appearing in “Il trittico” at the Castleton Festival in the summer of 2010, he returned in 2011 to sing Colline with Lorin Maazel. Charles Ward of The Houston Chronicle has described his “vivid . . . and polished singing” as “. . .leaving the audience panting. . .” On the symphonic stage, his deep repertoire encircles masterworks of Handel, Haydn, Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, and Mozart, in whose “Requiem” Handley has been described as “striking in the tuba mirum.”

In the 2012 – 2013 season, Mr. Handley makes his European debut as Escamillo in a new production of “Carmen” in his company debut with Theater Aachen, also his role debut. He returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” as Hans Folz. He finishes the season with Seattle Opera in their highly acclaimed “Der Ring des Nibelungen”. Last season, Mr. Handley made his Asian debut in Beijing, China at the National Centre for the Performing Arts as Basilio in “Il barbiere di Siviglia”, conducted by Lorin Maazel. He made his Severance Hall and Carnegie Hall debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra in performances of “Salome” with Franz Welser-Möst.

Recent seasons included a return engagement for Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony, and added the Verdi and Brahms “Requiem”s plus Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” to his repertoire. Other successful performances include Leporello in “Don Giovanni” with the Ryan Opera Center, “Don Magnifico” in La Cenerentola with the Merola Opera Program, the title role in “Don Pasquale” on tour with the Santa Fe Opera, Mr. Emerson in Nelson’s “A Room with a View” (DVD by Newport Classics), Sancho in Telemann’s “Don Quichott” and Polyphemus in “Acis and Galatea” with Houston’s Mercury Baroque (KUHF records), Bottom in Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Caspar in Weber’s “Der Freischütz”, Jaggers in Argento’s “Miss Havisham’s Fire”, The King in Prokofiev’s “The Love for Three Oranges”, Dikoy in Janáček’s “Katya Kabanova”, and Dr. Miracle in Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”.

A fervent proponent of contemporary composers, Handley has delivered several world premieres, including the music of Scott Gendel and Dan Black with the Madison Contemporary Orchestra. He has been a guest artist with the Houston Symphony, the National Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, and the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia with James Conlon. Among his several recordings Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming is available through Newport Classics and the DVD of his collaboration with Peter Schickele for P. D. Q. Bach in “Houston: We Have a Problem” is available from Acorn Media.

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