Craig Verm Biography

Marriage of Figaro Cast

Craig Verm (Count Almaviva)

Craig Verm is rapidly gaining recognition for his exciting performances. Following recent performances of Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette exclaimed that he was "again impressive. His Mercutio was a winning mix of insouciance and insolence with a superb grasp of the French". The Denver Post agrees, enthusiastically citing his ability to "make full use of his resonant, expressive baritone voice, bringing the necessary depth to this complex role and imbuing the all-important final scene with poignancy and depth." He begins the 2009-10 season in his first performances of Marcello in La bohème with Austin Lyric Opera and makes a return guest appearance as Junius in The Rape of Lucretia with the Pittsburgh Opera Center following returns to Pittsburgh Opera for Tom Joad in Ricky Ian Gordon's The Grapes of Wrath and the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh to reprise Falke in Die Fledermaus as well as his first performances of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Florentine Opera and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Lyrique-en- Mer/Festival de Belle-Île in France. On the concert stage, he joined the Robert Page Festival Singers for further performances of Haydn's Creation at the Virginia Arts Festival.

Mr. Verm enjoys a strong relationship with Pittsburgh Opera, where he has sung Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette and the Novice's Friend in Billy Budd following previous performances with the company as Guglielmo in student performances of Così fan tutte as well mainstage performances that included Angelotti in Tosca while a member of the company's opera studio program. He also recently made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut at the legendary Hollywood Bowl as Angelotti in Tosca. Mr. Verm has sung Joseph Pitt in Peter Eötvös' Angels in America with Fort Worth Opera, both the Count in Le nozze di Figaro and Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen with Aspen Opera Theater where his performances also included Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble.

Equally adept within the realm of oratorio, Craig Verm's other concert appearances encompass performances of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Pittsburgh Symphony; Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra; Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with the Boston Youth Symphony; Bach's Mass in B minor at Portugal's Aviero Music Festival; as well as Faure's Requiem with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, and Rutter's Mass of the Children with the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale. He has also sung Haydn's Creation with the Robert Page Festival Singers on tour in Vienna and Budapest and performances of Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem in Cincinnati and Handel's Messiah in Houston.

He received his Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music where his performances included title role in Carlisle Floyd's Markheim. He was graduated cum laude from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He was also a 2006 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is also a former member of the young artist programs Santa Fe Opera and Cincinnati Opera.