A recent graduate of the University of British Columbia’s Diploma in Voice program, Peruvian-American baritone Ian Burns is rapidly gaining recognition for his rich tone and self-assured stage presence. In the summer of 2020, Burns was prepared to cover the roles of Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music and Masetto in Don Giovanni as a member of the Glimmerglass Festival’s Young Artist Program, but instead participated in the company’s six-week virtual festival created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burns first began his studies in the theater program at Valencia College in Florida, before discovering his passion for opera. At the Glimmerglass virtual festival, the young baritone jumped at the chance to take advantage of as many coachings as possible and relished classes with industry leaders Francesca Zambello, Joseph Colaneri and Gayletha Nichols.
The summer of 2019 saw Burns as an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera, where he covered the roles of the Foreman in Janáček’s Jenůfa and The Gardener in the world premiere of Poul Ruders’ The Thirteenth Child. He also covered Marcello in La Bohème, a favorite role that the baritone had previously performed at the University of North Florida (2018) and at the European Music Academy in the Czech Republic (2017). His first operatic role, also with the European Music Academy, was as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
While working on his diploma at the University of British Columbia, Burns performed the role of Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, “rattl(ing) through his patter-songs with self-confident pomposity” (Review Vancouver). There, he also sang the roles of Lieutenant Audebert in Silent Night and Captain in Eugene Onegin, performed Der Lakai/Perückenmacher and covered Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, and was the baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem. On the advice of his teacher and mentor, tenor J. Patrick Raftery, Burns continued his summer studies at the Taos Opera Institute in 2018.
Originally from Tampa, FL, Burns is planning his move to Berlin in the fall of 2020.
