Harrison Hintzsche
Harrison Hintzsche, hailed for his “sonorous” baritone voice by Opera News, is celebrated for his warm lyric tone, nuanced musicality, and profound dedication to text. His dynamic career spans oratorio, art song, and ensemble singing, where he thrives on the challenge of interpreting a diverse repertoire that spans various time periods and styles. His interpretation of Schubert Lieder at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2018, with pianist Graham Johnson, was noted by Opera Today for its “strong sense of narrative” and “gentle poignancy.”
Hintzsche’s accolades include first-place honors at the 2021 Colorado Bach Ensemble Young Artist Competition and the 2018 Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota Voice Competition. He was also the inaugural recipient of the William H. Halverson Award from the Edvard Grieg Society of America for an exceptional performance of Grieg’s music. Additionally, he was honored with the 2020 Margot Fassler Prize in the Performance of Sacred Music by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
Cantata Collective’s recent recording of Bach’s St. John Passion, under the direction of Nicholas McGegan and released by AVIE Records in June 2023, features Harrison as the bass aria soloist and in the role of Pilate. The BBC’s Record Review praised his performance for its “lightness and relaxed lyricism” displayed in the aria “Mein teurer Heiland, lass mich fragen” with cellist William Skeen. His interpretations of various Lieder by Luise Greger’s are showcased on the New Muses Project’s 2022 debut album.
Recent solo performance highlights include J.S. Bach’s Magnificat with Jos van Veldhoven and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, St. Matthew Passion with the Colorado Bach Ensemble, Handel’s Messiah with Ensemble Altera, Bach’s Ich habe genug with Gotham Early Music Scene, Locke & Gibbons’s 1653 masque Cupid & Death with Early Music Access Project, and Finzi’s In Terra Pax and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Choral Society of the Hamptons. This season, Hintzsche anticipates exciting collaborations with Cantata Collective, Evergreen Ensemble, Upper Valley Baroque, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Colorado Bach Ensemble, the Cathedral Singers at St. John the Divine NYC, The Thirteen, and the Leonids.
As a sought-after ensemble musician, Hintzsche has performed with some of the nation’s leading choral ensembles, such as the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Conspirare, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Ensemble Altera, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, Yale Choral Artists, Bach Akademie Charlotte, and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, among others.
Hintzsche holds a Master of Music degree in Early Music Voice from the Yale School of Music, where he also earned a certificate from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in 2020. At Yale, he studied voice with tenor James Taylor and performed with the Yale Schola Cantorum, working with conductors David Hill and Masaaki Suzuki. He completed his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance at St. Olaf College in 2016, where he toured with the St. Olaf Choir and studied voice with Dr. Robert C. Smith. Originally from DeKalb, Illinois, Hintzsche now resides in Brooklyn, New York.