CHAD RUNYON (bass)—recently hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "mellifluous" in David Conte's new opera, America Tropical—sings, directs, and teaches throughout the Bay Area.  He "shapes each song as if it were a miniature tale being freshly recounted … Runyon's attention to the melding of words and music is sure," says Gramophone Magazine of his latest recording, Sweet Irrational Worship: The Niles-Merton Songs, Opus 171 and 172 (MSR Classics, 2006).  He appeared on television singing the opening solo in the Emmy Award-winning PBS broadcast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert (PBS, 2002). Other recordings include Messiah with American Bach Soloists (Delos, 2005); What Sweeter Music: Christmas Carols (American Bach Soloists, 2003); David Conte's opera The Gift of the Magi (Arsis, 2001); Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe (Teldec Classics, 1998); and Sing We Christmas (Teldec Classics, 1995). As a concert and oratorio soloist, Chad has performed Bach's St. John Passion (arias with Apollo's Fire, Goshen, IN); St. Matthew Passion (Christus with Santa Cruz Chorale and Soli Deo Gloria; High Priest with the San Francisco Symphony); Bach's solo cantata Ich habe genug (Noon Time Concerts, SF); Messiah (UC Berkeley); Mozart's Mass in C (San Louis Obispo Mozart Festival); Sumaya (San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival); Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Silicon Valley, Berkeley); Conrad Susa's Carols and Lullabies (San Francisco); the role of the Traveler in Britten's Curlew River (Denver and San Francisco); and Mendelssohn's Elijah. He has appeared on television, radio and concert programs in Japan, Australia, Singapore, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as well as the United States and Europe. He was a member of the Grammy Award-winning ensemble, Chanticleer, from 1988-1997. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Chad has appeared with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, the Men and Boys of Grace Cathedral, the San Francisco Opera and is a regular member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Chad received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance from the Wheaton Conservatory in Illinois, and a Master's in Voice from SMU in Dallas. In addition to singing, Chad maintains a private voice studio, conducts choral workshops and voice clinics and is a member of the California Music Educators Association, the National Association for Teachers of Singing and the Screen Actors Guild.

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