Christopher Pfund

Tenor

  • Highly lauded for his irreverent portrayals of the Roasting Swan in Carmina Burana, tenor Christopher Pfund has made the role a pillar of his career, performing it with countless orchestras across North America. In past seasons he has performed Carmina Burana with the symphony orchestras of Alabama, Des Moines, Cleveland, Colorado, Fort Wayne, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, and San Diego.

    Recently, Christopher Pfund continued his role in performances of Carmina Burana with the Pacific Symphony and the Des Moines Symphony. Mr. Pfund performed Bach BWV 189 at the Idaho Bach Festival, of which he is co-director. Other recent engagements include performances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Tucson Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Spokane Symphony and Duluth Superior Symphony.

    In addition to his signature concert role, Mr. Pfund has appeared in concert performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Charlotte and Stamford symphonies; Handel’s Messiah with the Buffalo Philharmonic, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, and Virginia Symphony; and Haydn’s Creation with the Louisiana Philharmonic. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall with the Rochester Philharmonic as a part of the Spring for Music Festival as Sir Gower Lackland in a concert performance of Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount. He created the role of Rev. Eugene Hendrix in a world-premiere concert performance of Gregory Vajda’s opera Georgia Bottoms with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra.

    Christopher Pfund’s opera engagements include Sempronio in Haydn’s Lo Speziale with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Pong in Turandot with El Paso Opera, New Jersey State Opera, and the Florentine Opera; Tonik in Smetana’s The Two Widows with the Chautauqua Opera; the New York City premiere of Ernst Krenek’s Vertrauenssache with the organization Elysium between Two Continents; and performances with Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, and Florentine Opera.

    Mr. Pfund’s recordings include the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring on the Vox label and Distant Playing Fields: Vocal Music of Amy Beach and William Maye on Newport Classics.

    A Colorado native, Christopher Pfund holds degrees from both the University of Northern Colorado and Manhattan School of Music. He was an opera apprentice with the Santa Fe, Glimmerglass and Chautauqua operas, and was a 20th Century Song Recitalist at the Banff Centre.

  • March 19, 2022: Christopher Pfund Performes ‘Carmina Burana’ with the Spokane Symphony
    - Spokane Symphony

    October 1, 2019: Christopher Pfund Celebrates 20 Years with Maestro Carl St. Clair of the Pacific Symphony
    - The Pacific Symphony

  • ‘CARMINA BURANA’ MAKES FOR AN EPIC VALENTINE’S DAY CONCERT BY SYMPHONY
    The three soloists were in full command of their vices and voices…Tenor Christopher Pfund’s roasting swan sizzled as the grease dripped earthward into the fire.
    – Wayne F. Anthony, The Blade

    REVIEW: GRAMS PERFORMS ‘CARMINA BURANA’ THAT WILL BE HARD TO FOLLOW
    “And tenor Christopher Pfund, who sang only three verses in the performance, was the standout with his charismatic portrayal of a swan on a spit. His entrance on stage, glancing about the orchestra with the look of someone who had wandered in off the street with no clue why they were there, was priceless and fit his character of being an innocent and unwilling guest for dinner.”
    – Cathalena E. Bursch, Arizona Daily Star

    THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE: CARMINA BURANA A MASTERWORKS TRIUMPH FOR TBSO
    “Pfund is gifted with the ability to powerfully reach notes higher than the rafters, yet just as intense in softer moments.”
    – Melanie Larson, Walleye (CA)

    CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA AT BLOSSOM: CARMINA BURANA WITH ANDREW GRAMS
    “Not only did Tenor Christopher Pfund sing Olim lacus colueram, his only aria, with great skill, his stage-commanding gestures helped him vividly to impersonate ‘the swan who is now black and roasted to a turn.’”
    – Robert Rollins, Cleveland Classical

    ‘CARMINA BURANA’ IS A VISCERAL BLAST
    “And the tenor Christopher Pfund made the most of his brief appearance as a swan — or former swan — lamenting its life while roasting on a spit. It’s one of the tenor’s specialties; he’s sung the role more than 150 times on three continents.”
    – Michael Morain, Des Moines Register

    MSO, CHORUSES, SOLOISTS DELIVER A STUNNING ‘CARMINA BURANA’
    “Tenor Christopher Pfund makes a brief but memorable appearance as a roasting swan:…. Pfund’s strong voice and body language elicited mild laughter from the audience, which clearly enjoyed Orff’s spectacle.”
    – Thomas B. Harrison, Press-Register

  • Orchestral Repertoire

    Bach
    Magnificat

    Beethoven
    Symphony No. 9

    Britten
    Les Illuminations
    Nocturne
    Rejoice in the Lamb
    St. Nicolas
    Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
    Spring Symphony
    War Requiem

    Handel
    Messiah

    Mozart
    Requiem

    Orff
    Carmina Burana

    Schönberg
    Gurre-Lieder (Klauss-Narr)

    Stravinsky
    Cantata
    Les noces
    Pucinella (Mentre l’erbetta)

    Tippett
    Child of Our Time

    Vaughan Williams
    Sancta Civitas

    ***

    Opera Repertoire

    Argento
    Postcard from Morocco (Lyric Tenor)

    Britten
    Albert Herring (Albert)
    The Burning Fiery Furnace (Nebuchadnezzar, Meshach)
    Curlew River (Madwoman)
    Owen Wingrave (Lechmere)
    The Prodigal Son (Tempter, Abbot)
    The Rape of Lucretia (Male Chorus)
    The Turn of the Screw (Peter Quint)

    Floyd
    Of Mice and Men (Ballad Singer)

    Handel
    Partenope (Emilio)

    Menotti
    The Consul (Nika Magadoff the Magician)

    Mozart
    Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Pedrillo)
    Le Nozze di Figaro (Basilio)

    Puccini
    Turandot (Pong)
    Tosca (Spoletta)
    Madama Butterfly (Goro)

    Ravel
    L’enfant et les sortilèges (Teapot, Little Old Man)
    L’heure espagnole (Torquemada)

    Schönberg
    Moses und Aron (Aron)

    Stravinsky
    Oediups Rex (Oedipus)
    Perséphone (Eumolphe)
    The Rake’s Progress (Tom Rakewell)
    Le rossignol (Fisherman)

    Tippett
    King Priam (Paris)
    The Knot Garden (Dov)

    Verdi
    Falstaff (Bardolfo)

    Weisgall
    Six Characters in Search of An Author (Director, Unmentionable Sin)

    Zemlinsky
    Der Zwerg (Der Zwerg)

    ***

    Lied Repertoire

    Barber
    Hermit Songs (Cycle)
    I Hear an Army
    Monks and Raisins
    Sure on this Shining Night

    Beethoven
    Adelaide
    An die ferne Geliebte (Cycle)
    Der Kuβ
    Sechs Gellert Lieder

    Brahms
    Die schöne Magelone (Cycle)
    Heimkehr
    Herbstgefühl
    O kühler Wald
    Liebeslieder-Walzer
    Wie bist du, meine Königin
    Zigeunerlieder

    Britten
    Canticle II “Abraham and Isaac”
    Canticle III “Still falls the Rain”
    Les Illuminations (Cycle)
    Selected Folk Song Arrangements
    The Holy Sonnets of John Donne
    Winter Words (Cycle)

    Debussy
    Auprès de cette grotte somber
    En sourdine
    Green
    Il pleure dans mon Cœur
    La fille aux cheveux de lin
    Le lilas
    Mandoline
    Nuits d’étoiles, lous tes voiles

    Dvorák
    By the still waters of Babylon
    God the Lord my shepherd is
    I lift up mine eyes
    Lord, a new song I would fashion
    Lord, O harken unto my crying
    Sing a new song

    Fauré
    Après un Rêve
    Au Bord de l’Eau
    Au Cimetière
    Chanson d’Amour
    En Sourdine
    Green
    Ici-bas
    La lune blanche luit dans les Bois
    Le Secret
    Les Berceaux
    Mandoline

    Hindemith
    Sechs Hölderlin Lieder (Cycle)

    Holst
    Four Songs, Op. 35

    Husa
    Twelve Moravian Songs

    Ives
    At the River
    Ann Street
    Charlie Rutlage
    The Cage
    The Greatest Man
    The Housatonic at Stockbridge
    Two Little Flowers

    Messiaen
    Poemes pour Mi (Cycle)
    Puccini
    Avanti Urania!
    Inno a Diana
    Sole e amore
    Storiella d’amore

    Rorem
    Cycle of Holy Songs (Cycle)

    Rossini
    Il Rimprovero
    La Danza
    La Gita in Gondola
    La Partenza
    La Pastorella delle Alpi
    La Promessa
    L’Invito
    L’Orgia

    Schubert
    An die Musik
    An mein Klavier
    Auf dem Strom
    Auf dem Wasser zu singen
    Ave Maria
    Die Forelle
    Die schöne Müllerin (Cycle)
    Du bist die Ruh
    Erlkönig
    Frülingsglaube
    Heidenröslein
    Nacht und Träume
    Rastlose Liebe
    Schäfers Klagelied
    Wanderers Nachtlied
    Winterreise (Cycle)

    Schumann
    Dichterliebe (Cycle)
    Im Walde
    Kennst du das Land
    Schöne Wiege
    Widmung

    Strauss
    Allerseelen
    Ich trage meine Minne
    Morgen!
    Nacht

    Tippett
    The Heart’s Assurance (Cycle)

    Vaughan Williams
    Along the Field (Cycle)
    Four Hymns (Cycle)
    On Wenlock Edge (Cycle)

    Wolf
    Ach des Knaben Augen
    Anakreons Grab
    Auch kleine Dinge
    Auf dem grünen Balkon
    Auf ein altes Bild
    Denk es, o Seele
    Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen
    Fussreise
    Heb’ auf dein blondes Haupt
    Herr, was trägt der Boden
    Im Frühling
    Nachtzauber
    Schlafendes Jesuskind
    Was soll der Zorn

    *Updated August 2022