Bass BENJAMIN LeCLAIR has given over 150 performances as lead bass soloist at the Oldenburg State Theater in Germany. Notable during this engagement were role debuts as King Mark in Tristan und Isolde, Friar Laurence in Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette, and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte.  Further performances in Oldenburg included roles from his repertoire in The Barber of Seville, Così fan tutte, Eugene Onegin, and the solo turns in Mahler’s 8th Symphony, among others.  Recent highlights include a performance with Haymarket Opera at the Valletta Early Music Festival in Malta for a performance of Stradella’s St. John the Baptist, the world premiere and recording of Two Cells by Marec Béla Steffens and Walter Steffens, and the Verdi Requiem with the Lake Houston Musical Arts Society.  He has sung previously with the Santa Fe Opera, Reis National Opera in Holland, Austin Lyric Opera, Nasvhille Opera, North Carolina Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Birmingham, Florentine Opera, St. Petersburg Opera and symphony orchestras in Knoxville, Indianapolis, South Dakota and Bangor, Maine among others.  This is his third production at Summer Garden Opera: previously he sang Colline in La Bohème and Mephistofeles in Gounod’s Faust.  Ben is happy to return to perform along with his wife, Jan Cornelius.  They have two children: Gwen and Gus, ages 4 and 2 respectively.

This is Mr. LeClair’s third production with the Summer Garden Opera.