Kirk Eichelberger
Bass Kirk Eichelberger has been praised for “commanding the stage at every turn” (San Francisco Chronicle) and for his “resonant bass and riveting stage presence” (Dayton City Paper). Recent engagements include Alidoro in La Cenerentola with Opéra de Montréal, Zuniga in Carmen for the Spokane Symphony and Opera Coeur d’Alene, Commendatore in Don Giovanni for the Edmonton Opera and Manitoba Opera, Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville for the Livermore Valley Opera, and the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera engaged him for Abraham in Flames.
Kirk’s recent seasons included return engagements at Livermore Valley Opera for Of Mice and Men (Candy), The Magic Flute (Sarastro), and Don Giovanni (Commendatore), and Opera Cultura for La Llorona (El General). His 2022-23 season included a return to Manitoba Opera for Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Angelotti in Tosca for Livermore Valley Opera and Sarastro with the Santa Rosa Symphony. 2021-22 saw Kirk join Livermore Valley Opera for Verdi’s Otello and for the past two seasons, Tundi Productions for Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried andTristan und Isolde. In the Fall of 2021, he performed the role of The Commentator in Solo Opera’s production of Scalia v. Ginsberg.
Further credits include The Emperor in Tan Dun’s Tea and Don Fernando in Fidelio with Opera Company of Philadelphia, Mephistophélès in Faust with Opera Grand Rapids, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Vancouver Opera, and Ferrando in Il trovatore with both Opera Manitoba and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Kirk made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Prokofiev’s The Gambler.
Kirk has sung The Four Villains in The Tales of Hoffman with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the title role in Le nozze di Figaro for Opera Memphis, and Alidoro in La Cenerentola with Sacramento Opera. On stage with the Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, Kirk has performed Timur in Turandot, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Concert engagements include Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Haydn’s Creation, Pärt’s Litany, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Kodály’s Budavári Te Deum and Einhorn’s Voices of Light. A regular recitalist with Lieder Alive in the Bay Area, Mr. Eichelberger has performed Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Brahm’s Vier ernste Gesänge, Strauss’ Rückert-Lieder and Wolf’s Michelangelo-Lieder.
Mr. Eichelberger was a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and also the MacAllister Awards for Opera Singers. He holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois.
August 2024
Not to be altered or copied without permission.
““The devil gets the best lines in many circumstances, but rarely so definitively as when he’s portrayed by a singer like bass Kirk Eichelberger. His performance as Mephistopheles combined tonal suavity and power with a dark, sardonic edge that bespoke all sorts of demonic undercurrents; the duet with Marguerite in the cathedral scene was a tour de force of fiery bravado.”
”
