Carmina Burana

HAMILTON CIVIC CHOIR

BARITONE SOLOIST/ 5 JUNE 2021

Carl Orff's Carmina Burana​Carmina Burana opens with one of the most famous passages in classical music as the massed choir chants “O Fortuna” at full volume over an accompaniment of orchestral power chords while the timpani pound out a beat like the engine room of the Titanic.

Carmina Burana

ORCHESTRA WELLINGTON 
ORPHEUS CHOIR OF WELLINGTON

BARITONE SOLOIST/ 22 MAY 2021

Béla Bartók's Cantata Profana | Carl Orff's Carmina Burana
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Carmina Burana opens with one of the most famous passages in classical music as the massed choir chants “O Fortuna” at full volume over an accompaniment of orchestral power chords while the timpani pound out a beat like the engine room of the Titanic.

Don Giovanni

THE WELLINGTON OPERA

DON GIOVANNI / 17 - 24 APRIL 2021

Wellington Opera is a new professional opera company, launching with Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni at the Wellington Opera House April 2021. 
Audiences are in for a real treat, with a dynamic New Zealand cast featuring many principals back in New Zealand on pause from their careers around the world.

This is a bold yet timeless production offering food for thought for our times whilst embracing the theatricality of old.

Opera in the Pa

WAITANGI DAY CELEBRATIONS

GUEST ARTIST / 6 FEBRUARY 2021

Opera in the Pa / Ko te pā o puoro whakaari

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A beautiful evening in celebration of Waitangi Day, the historic day in New Zealand history where the Maori and the British signed the Treaty. 

Held on the lawn at the Rotorua Arts Village, Christian is thrilled to return to his home town to provide some of the operatic entertainment, that will be interwoven with Maori Waiata and Pacific Island music, creating the highly sought-after and extremely popular summer evening concert.

Flight

MINNESOTA OPERA

THE STEWARD / JAN/FEB 2020

 Inspired by a true story, Jonathan Dove’s Flight is a comedic drama centered on 8 strangers, who's halted travel plans merge with the tale of a stranded refugee.

Edward Tulane (workshop)

MINNESOTA OPERA

BRYCE / DECEMBER, 2019

In preparation for the premiere of the opera Edward Tulane by Paola Prestini, Mr. Thurston was cast in the Orchestra Workshops as multiple characters.

The orchestra workshop plays a vital role in the  development  of the vision of the composer, conductor, director and producers of any new opera.

La traviata

MINNESOTA OPERA

The Fix

MINNESOTA OPERA

BUCK WEAVER / MARCH, 2019

Shoeless Joe and the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. 
An opera based on the notorious World Series scandal of 1919, featuring legendary figures such as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ring Lardner, and Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

The Italian Straw Hat

MINNESOTA OPERA

EMILIO / JAN/FEB, 2019

The composer of The Godfather film scores wrote this hilarious and edge-of-your-seat comedy, full of  laughs and drama. Everything that can possibly go wrong does - before it all turns out okay again!

Silent

Night

MINNESOTA OPERA

LIEUTENANT GORDON / NOVEMBER, 2018

A moment of peace in the midst of war. Silent Night recounts a miraculous moment of peace during World War I. The Pulitzer Prize-winning music masterfully juxtaposes the bombastic sounds of war with serene songs from home.

Thaïs

MINNESOTA OPERA

ATHANAËL (COVER) / MAY, 2018

Spiritual conviction meets earthly desire. A devout monk seeks to convert Thaïs, a ravishingly beautiful courtesan, but realizes too late that his pious obsession is rooted in lust, not religion.

Rigoletto

MINNESOTA OPERA

MARULLO / MARCH, 2018

A fool’s revenge. Verdi’s time-honored tale of seduction and bitter revenge is boldly imagined in this new production. The disfigured jester Rigoletto must do everything in his power to protect his innocent daughter from the lecherous Duke of Mantua before she falls into his clutches.

Dead Man Walking

MINNESOTA OPERA

JOSEPH DE ROCHER (COVER) / JAN/FEB, 2018

Divine intervention. The most performed new opera of the 21st century, this heartbreaking story of grief, grace, and redemption is a modern classic. Based on Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir that inspired the Oscar-winning movie of the same name, it recounts her courageous struggle to provide spiritual guidance to a condemned Louisiana murderer in the months leading up to his execution.

Le nozze di Figaro

MINNESOTA OPERA

COUNT ALMAVIVA / NOVEMBER, 2017

Comedy, classism, and calamity. All is fair in love and war in this new staging of Mozart’s timeless comedy of errors, widely considered the perfect opera. Mozart’s infectious score brings humor, drama, and humanity to this story of class conflict