John Brancy (born November 14, 1988) is an American operatic

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

performing with leading

opera companies Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

around the world. He is of Polish, German, English and Scottish descent.

Early life and education

Brancy was born in

Upper Darby Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 cen ...

, Pennsylvania, to Margaret and Michael Brancy. He has a younger sister, Jenna, a visual artist Brancy started voice lessons with Marvin Keenze in 2005. He grew up in the

Mullica Hill Mullica Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Harrison Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP's population was 3,982.Harrison Township, New Jersey Harrison Township is a township in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 12,417, reflecting an increase of 3,629 (+41.3%) from the 8,788 counted in the 2000 census. Har ...

and graduated from

Clearview Regional High School Clearview Regional High School is a regional public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Harrison Township and Mantua Township, two communities in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part ...

in 2007.Shyrock, Bob
"A Rare Talent"
''South Jersey Life'',August 21, 2007. Accessed October 21, 2018. "Defying considerable odds, John Brancy has posted some rather impressive numbers. For example, in one competition in Miami, the classical baritone from Clearview Regional High School was one of six $10,000 winners.... So it's little wonder the Mullica Hill resident heads to the elite Juilliard School in Manhattan on scholarship in a few weeks to pursue a musical career he hopes will culminate on the worldwide opera stage." He continued his education at The

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

where he completed his Bachelor of Music (studying voice with Cynthia Hoffmann) and a Graduate Diploma under the voice tutelage of

Edith Wiens Edith Wiens OC (born 9 June 1950) is a Canadian opera, recital and concert singer with a soprano voice. Early life and education Wiens, daughter of a Mennonite pastor, grew up in Vancouver where she finished high school at the age of 16. She ...

, who he continues to study with.

Career

During the 2012/13 season, Brancy made his professional operatic debut with the Dresden

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

, singing the role of Fiorello in Rossini's ''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

''. While still an undergraduate student at the

, Brancy made his debuts at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and

David Geffen Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

(formerly known as Avery Fisher Hall) as the baritone soloist in Fauré's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

, Mozart's ''

Coronation Mass A Coronation Mass is a Eucharistic celebration, in which a special liturgical act, the coronation of an image of Mary, is performed. The coronation of an image of Mary is an act of devotion to her. It expresses the belief that Mary as mother ...

'', and Schubert's Mass in G. He was the winner of the 2010 Juilliard School Honors Recital Competition and in the following year made his

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

debut, with pianist Brian Zeger. Brancy is a recent first prize winner of the Jensen Foundation competition and has received the Sullivan Foundation Grand Prize and career grant, first prize at the Classical Singer Magazine Competition, the Gold Award for Voice at the YoungArts Foundation competition. He was a 2nd Place winner in the Liederkranz Competition in 2010, and in the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition in 2011, and a laureate of the 2012 Montreal International Music Competition. He is the 2013 winner of the

Marilyn Horne Song Competition The Marilyn Horne Song Competition is an annual competition for participants of the voice and piano programs at the Music Academy of The West. Name The Competition was launched in 1997 as the ''Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition'' and he ...

. In 2020, he received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for his work in

Fantastic Mr. Fox ''Fantastic Mr Fox'' is a children's literature, children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl. It was published in 1970, by Allen & Unwin, George Allen & Unwin in the UK and Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S., with illustrations by Donald Ch ...

. During the

2021-22 NHL season Increment or incremental may refer to: * Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) * Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming * Incremental computing * Incremental backu ...

Brancy frequently sang the national anthem before the start of

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

home games, including throughout the team's playoff run.

Repertoire

Brancy's repertoire includes: *Figaro, ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' (Mozart) * Papageno, ''

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that includ ...

'' (Mozart) * Fantastic Mr. Fox, ''

'' (Tobias Picker) * Malatesta, ''

Don Pasquale ''Don Pasquale'' () is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's ...

'' (Donizetti) * Demetrius, ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' (Britten) * Harlekin, ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work' ...

'' (Strauss)STLouisToday
"OTSL presents a stylish ''Ariadne on Naxos''"
''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' (St. Louis), June 2016 * Morales, Dancairo, ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'' (Bizet) * Dandini, ''

La Cenerentola ' (''Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera '' Cendrillon'' ...

'' (Rossini) * Slook, ''

La cambiale di matrimonio ''La cambiale di matrimonio'' (; English language, English: ''The Bill of Marriage'' or ''The Marriage Contract'') is a one-act operatic farsa, farsa comica by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. The libretto was based on the play b ...

'' (Rossini) * Sonora, ''

La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' followe ...

'' (Puccini) * Tantale, Apollon, ''

La descente d'Orphée aux enfers ''La descente d'Orphée aux enfers'' H.488 (English: ''The Descent of Orpheus to the Underworld'') is an incomplete chamber opera in two acts by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was probably composed in early 1686 and performed ...

'' (Charpentier) * Eugene Onegin ''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is a novel in verse written by Ale ...

'' (Tchaikovsky) * Albert ''

Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...

'' (Massenet) * Billy Bigelow ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' (Rodgers) * Steward ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'' (Dove)

References

External links

*
Profile

IMG Artists IMG Artists LLC is a performing arts management corporation. History In 1979 Charles Hamlen and Edna Landau co-founded Hamlen/Landau, a New York-based musical artist management agency. In 1984 it was acquired by International Management Group an ...

"Sound Bites: John Brancy"
by F. Paul Driscoll, ''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'', April 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brancy, John 1988 births Living people American operatic baritones Musicians from Philadelphia Juilliard School alumni People from Harrison Township, New Jersey 21st-century American singers Music Academy of the West alumni Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Classical musicians from New Jersey 21st-century American male singers Marilyn Horne Song Competition winners Singers from New Jersey