Brendan Buckley
MM, Pennsylvania State University
BA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Tenor Brendan Buckley recently made his Boston Symphony Hall debut as Giuseppe in Verdi’s La Traviata with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Brendan also made his Seiji Ozawa Hall debut in 2019 performing Schubert’s Mass in G with the Berkshire Lyric Chorus. He played George Gibbs in Monadnock Music’s production of Ned Rorem’s Our Town, the premiere recording of which was released on New World Records. He can also be heard in Cape Ann Opera’s Global Music Award winning recording of Robert J. Bradshaw’s steampunk opera Deus Ex Machina. Brendan has also often worked with Guerilla Opera, most recently playing the role of the Nurse in Hannah Lash’s Beowulf.
Other notable performances include Howard Boucher in the New England premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Fenton in Falstaff and Laurie in Little Women with Boston Opera Collaborative and Tamino in The Magic Flute with MassOpera. Past performances include Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, Remendado in Carmen and Monostatos in The Magic Flute with BOC, First Tenor in The Seven Deadly Sins with the Five College Opera Project and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Opera del West. Concert performances include engagements with the Amherst College Orchestra, Nashua Symphony, Greater New Bedford Choral Society, Choral Art Society of the South Shore, and MIT Symphony Orchestra.
A versatile actor and musician, Brendan is at home in both classical and contemporary works. He most recently premiered the role of Nurse in Hannah Lash’s Beowulf with Guerilla Opera. Other premieres include Dr. Singleton in Rudolf Rojan’s We Are Sons with Guerilla Opera, John in RE: with Juventas! and OperaHub, and Monsieur de Kock in System of Soothing by composer Frank Pesci. Brendan also premiered Music for the Journey and The Immigrant Experience, cantatas composed by John Kramer for the Winchester Unitarian Society.
Mr. Buckley is a passionate educator, with over fifteen years of experience teaching both adults and children. Brendan is currently Visiting Lecturer of Voice at Plymouth State University, is a faculty member of the New England Conservatory’s School of Continuing Education, and is the former Massachusetts District Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He also has appeared on the radio waves as a guest judge for the WERS All A Capella Live! competition. Students of Mr. Buckley are NATS competition winners and have gone on to perform and teach throughout New England and in cruise ships. Former students have also continued studies at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, King’s College – London, and the CAP21 Theatre Arts Program at Molloy College, among others.
Brendan received a Master’s degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in Music at The University of Massachusetts-Amherst, with further study at the Scuola Italia in Urbania, Italy. Brendan studies with Elisabeth Phinney.
