Christopher Pfund

Highly lauded for his irreverent portrayals of the Roasting Swan in Carmina Burana, tenor Christopher Pfund has made the role a pillar of his career, performing it with countless orchestras across North America. In past seasons he has performed Carmina Burana with the symphony orchestras of Alabama, Des Moines, Cleveland, Colorado, Fort Wayne, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading and San Diego.

Recently, Christopher Pfund continued his role in performances of Carmina Burana with the Pacific Symphony and the Des Moines Symphony. Pfund performed Bach BWV 189 at the Idaho Bach Festival, of which he is co-director. Other recent engagements include performances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Tucson Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Spokane Symphony and Duluth Superior Symphony.

In addition to his signature concert role, Pfund has appeared in concert performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Charlotte and Stamford symphonies; Handel’s Messiah with the Buffalo Philharmonic, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony and Virginia Symphony; and Haydn’s Creation with the Louisiana Philharmonic. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall with the Rochester Philharmonic as a part of the Spring for Music Festival as Sir Gower Lackland in a concert performance of Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount. He created the role of Rev. Eugene Hendrix in a world-premiere concert performance of Gregory Vajda’s opera Georgia Bottoms with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra.

Christopher Pfund’s opera engagements include Sempronio in Haydn’s Lo Speziale with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Pong in Turandot with El Paso Opera, New Jersey State Opera and the Florentine Opera; Tonik in Smetana’s The Two Widows with the Chautauqua Opera; the New York City premiere of Ernst Krenek’s Vertrauenssache with the organization Elysium between Two Continents; and performances with Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, and Florentine Opera.

Pfund’s recordings include the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring on the Vox label and Distant Playing Fields: Vocal Music of Amy Beach and William Maye on Newport Classics.

A Colorado native, Christopher Pfund holds degrees from both the University of Northern Colorado and Manhattan School of Music. He was an opera apprentice with the Santa Fe, Glimmerglass and Chautauqua operas, and was a 20th Century Song Recitalist at the Banff Centre.

Photo of Christopher Pfund by Robert Kim
Banner photo by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography