Benjamin LeClair
Singer Benjamin LeClair is a giant in life and in the world of music. At 6 ft. 8 inches tall, he has towered over his colleagues on stages in Chicago, Santa Fe, Houston, and in Germany where he has given over 150 performances as lead bass soloist at the Oldenburg State Theater. Notably during this engagement were role debuts as King Mark in Tristan und Isolde, Laurence in Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette, and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte. Further performances in Oldenburg included roles from his repertoire in La Bohème, The Barber of Seville, Così fan tutte, and Eugene Onegin among others.
His first professional engagement came the age of 23 when he was invited to the Pine Mountain Music Festival. During his studies at Northwestern University in Chicago, he performed with local opera companies and also with Central City Opera in Colorado, a frequent jumping-off point for young professionals. Subsequently he was invited to sing the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera in the Heights in Houston. Altogether he has appeared with Opera in the Heights 5 times, most notably as the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann where his performance was described as “an unmitigated triumph”. He was accepted into the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco two times and sang successfully in productions of Così fan tutte and Albert Herring. He gave a performance described as “masterful” and “phenomal” when he helped launch the Haymarket Opera in Chicago, a company dedicated to baroque works, singing the role of the cyclops Polifemo in Handel’s Acis, Galatea and Polifemo. He has also sung with the Santa Fe Opera, Reis National Opera in Holland, Austin Lyric Opera, Birmingham Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Florentine Opera, St. Petersburg Opera and symphony orchestras in Knoxville, Indianapolis, and Bangor, Maine among others.
His first professional engagement came the age of 23 when he was invited to the Pine Mountain Music Festival. During his studies at Northwestern University in Chicago, he performed with local opera companies and also with Central City Opera in Colorado, a frequent jumping-off point for young professionals. Subsequently he was invited to sing the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera in the Heights in Houston. Altogether he has appeared with Opera in the Heights 5 times, most notably as the Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffmann where his performance was described as “an unmitigated triumph”. He was accepted into the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco two times and sang successfully in productions of Così fan tutte and Albert Herring. He gave a performance described as “masterful” and “phenomal” when he helped launch the Haymarket Opera in Chicago, a company dedicated to baroque works, singing the role of the cyclops Polifemo in Handel’s Acis, Galatea and Polifemo. He has also sung with the Santa Fe Opera, Reis National Opera in Holland, Austin Lyric Opera, Birmingham Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Florentine Opera, St. Petersburg Opera and symphony orchestras in Knoxville, Indianapolis, and Bangor, Maine among others.