A native of Gadsden, Alabama, Christian Dwight Owens began his professional career as an apprentice with the Houston Grand Opera and the Santa Fe Opera.  After his recent transition from baritone to tenor, career highlights include Radames in Aida with the Indianapolis Opera; Radames in Aida and Cavaradossi in Tosca with the New York Grand Opera; Malcolm in a concert performance of Macbeth with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall; and concerts in Hawaii, Virginia, and Alabama. As a baritone, he sang the role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the Houston Grand Opera and student performances with the Washington Opera; Der Heerufer in Lohengrin, Schaunard in La Boheme, and Sandor in Gretry’s Zemire et Azor with the Houston Grand Opera; Albert in Werther, and The Mogul in the world premiere of Argento’s The Dream of Valentino with the Washington Opera; Michele in Il Tabarro with England’s Broomhill Festival;  Horace Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe with the Chicago Lyric Theater and the Pittsburgh Opera Theater;  Le Gendarme in Les Mamelles de Tiresias with Italy’s Spoleto Festival; Escamillo in Carmen with the Manitoba Opera; Top in The Tender Land with the Chicago Opera Theater; Count di Luna in Il Trovatore and Germont in La Traviata with the Augusta Opera; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Birmingham. Mr. Owens has received generous support from the Corbett Foundation, the Dieterle Foundation, the Sullivan Foundation, the Olga Forrai Foundation, the New York Wagner Society, and the Washington Wagner Society. Concert highlights include Carmina Burana with the Houston Symphony Chorus in Mexico City and the Alabama Symphony and Ballet in Birmingham; Mozart’s Requiem with the Alabama Symphony and the Virginia Consort; and a Wagner Gala with the Hawaii Opera Theater. New Operatic Repertoire includes Siegfried in Siegfried and Gotterdammerung, Tannhauser in Tannhauser, Walter in Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Radames in Aida, Otello in Otello, Canio in I Pagliacci, and Samson in Samson et Dalila.  New Concert Repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem, Die Lied von der Erde, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Mahler’s 8th Symphony. "Dio mi potevi" from  Otello by Verdi.

Christian Dwight Owens