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The American counter-tenor, educator and music director, Christopher Fritzsche, graduated cum laude, with distinction from Sonoma State University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. In 2009 he received Distinguished Alumni Award from Sonoma State University.
After singing leading roles at Sonoma State and with several prestigious Bay Area opera companies, Christopher Fritzsche became a member of Chanticleer, America’s premier classical a cappella ensemble in 1992. During his 11 years with Chanticleer, he performed in more than 1,000 concerts world-wide, appearing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Emil de Cou), San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, (Christopher Hogwood and Hugh Wolff), and more recently the Santa Rosa Symphony, (Jeffrey Kahane and Robert Worth) and has sung concerts in some of the world’s most renown venues: The Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), New York’s Lincoln Center, as well as national concert halls across Asia and Europe, including London’s Wigmore Hall. He has also appeared with the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra in Chicago as soloist in Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and, as a member of Chanticleer, earned two Grammy awards for the CD's "Color of Love" (2000) and "Lamentations and Praises" by the celebrated British composer Sir John Tavener (2002). His singing has been described as “crystalline artistry,” Cleveland Plain Dealer; “crystalline rich soprano,” Los Alamos Moniter; and as having “extraordinary range and purity,” New York Times.
Since his retirement from Chanticleer in 2003, Christopher Fritzsche has returned to Sonoma State University (2004-2009) serving on the voice faculty and performing in many programs with the Music Department as well as with the Sonoma County Choral Society, a Sonoma State University community non-profit partnership. He has also created an elective course, Ready. Set. Sing, taught through Sonoma County Choral Society. The course focuses on improving individual technique in the context of choral and solo singing. Since 2008, he has served as Director of Music Ministry at the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Rosa that serves a congregation of nearly 1,000 members.
Internationally recognized for his effortless countertenor voice, Christopher Fritzsche can be heard on well over a dozen recordings on Warner Classics’ Teldec label. He continues to be an active soloist with Bay Area vocal and instrumental ensembles, performing in more than 30 concerts a year, and is a member of the men’s a cappella ensemble, Clerestory. He continues to lead vocal workshops for choral and solo singers of all levels. He currently lives in Santa Rosa, California. |
