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Randolph Locke enjoys a busy international career, having performed with opera companies in Italy, Greece, Finland, Stuttgart, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Ottawa, Edmonton, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Santa Fe, and Sarasota, to name but a few. His repertoire encompasses some of the most demanding tenor roles, including Calaf, Cavaradossi, Radames, Bacchus, Samson, Manrico, Hoffmann, and Don José.
Opera News described his Don Jose in Carmen: “Randolph Locke provided a Jose of strength and resolve whose principles, as much as love, guided his actions. His stentorian tenor met every demand, even ending his Flower Song pianissimo.” In his role debut as Radames in the Opera Memphis production of Aida, the Commercial Appeal reported: “Aptly self-assured and virile, Locke possesses a pure tenor voice that rang out with vigor and might in his arias about battle; yet the same voice melted with aching sensitivity during expressions of intimacy with Aida.”
Of his Canio in I Pagliacci, The Saratogian reported: “Tenor Randolph Locke as the anguished clown, Canio filled the space with his expressive voice, portraying outsized emotions effortlessly. The great aria, of course, is Canio’s “Vesti la giubba” (put on the costume), which Locke sings masterfully to bring down the first act curtain.”
Charles H. Parsons of Opera News Online reviewed one of Mr. Locke’s signature roles, Calaf, with Opera Columbus (February 2009) as a “voice full of passion and power, yet it could be sensitive and sensible in quiet passages. In Act II, he followed a laser-beam explosion of triumph with a perfectly delicate, nuanced ‘Dimmi il nome.’ Locke sang ‘Nessun dorma’ as written, beginning very softly, steadily building to an applause-evoking climax.” The Indianapolis Star said of his Calaf: “Randolph Locke made a hugely successful Indianapolis debut as the bold, mysterious, foreign prince who escapes beheading by answering all three questions . . . In Act III, Locke began softly and mysteriously
building to a rafter-shaking climax in ‘Nessun dorma’.”
Mr. Locke has also made forays into Russian (Eugene Onegin, The Gambler), Czech (The Makropoulos Case, Smetana's Hubicka and The Bartered Bride) and more contemporary fare, such as Mourning Becomes Electra, The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe, Susannah, and Merriwether Lewis in The Corps of Discovery. At the Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and the Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato, he
sang the role of Panfilo in the revised premiere of Carlos Chavez’ The Visitors which was released on the RCA/BMG label, winning Mexico's coveted Music Critics Award.
Randolph Locke has appeared in concert as tenor soloist for the Verdi Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, and Handel’s Messiah. He has made guest appearances with the National Orchestra of Mexico, Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Florida Philharmonic, Connecticut Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, Berkshire Music Festival, Johnstown Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Flint Institute of Music, Tulsa Philharmonic, and the Sarasota Orchestra.
Mr. Locke and his wife mezzo soprano Carol Sparrow have been presented by the Community Concert Association of New York City in over fifty recitals throughout the United States and have also been the featured operatic performers for Cunard Cruise Lines in over one hundred recitals around the world aboard ships such as the majestic Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2001, Mr. Locke and Ms. Sparrow cofounded the nonprofit organization Opera for Animals: Singing Is Saving (OASIS) to raise funds for animal welfare groups by giving recitals or other special musical events via their donated talents.
Randolph Locke is a graduate of Texas State University and received his Master of Music Degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, which he attended as the first place Corbett Opera Scholarship winner, studying with Italo Tajo and John Alexander. In 2008, Mr. Locke proudly joined the adjunct faculty of State College of Florida, Manatee/Sarasota where he maintains a Private Voice Studio and teaches Opera Workshop.
Upcoming performances for Mr. Locke include Three American Tenors presenting A Tribute to Mario Lanza for Opera Columbus, Erik in The Flying Dutchman with Mobile Opera and concerts with his wife mezzo soprano Carol Sparrow.
January 2010
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