Robert Chionis – cavalier baritone

Robert Chionis was born in Chicago and received training as an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera. He studied at the Musical Academy of the West, the St. Louis Conservatory of Music and the University of Houston, where he sang principal roles such as Figaro in “The Barber of Seville”, Ford in “Falstaff” and Silvio in “I Pagliacci”.

He made his professional debut with the Houston Grand Opera in the world premiere of “The Passion of Jonathan Wade” by Carlisle Floyd and shortly thereafter as a soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra with Mozart arias. Later performances in America ranged from Baroque opera (Aeneas in “Dido and Aeneas”), to classical and Bel Canto (Conte Almaviva in “Le Nozze di Figaro”; Dandini in “Cenerentola”; Belcore in “L’Elisir d’Amore”) as well as modern opera (Demetrius in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”; John Sorel in “The Consul”). He has also performed in operettas (Pirate King in “Pirates of Penzance”; Jupiter in “Orpheus in the Underworld”) and musicals (title role in “Candide”; Hero in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”; Matt in “The Fantasticks”) and has presented song recitals in St. Louis, Houston and Chicago.

His successful European debut was with the Wiener Taschenoper as Tarquinius in Britten’s “The Rape of Lucretia”, after which he remained in Vienna to perform in other twentieth century operas (“Lulu”, “Death in Venice”, “The 2nd Mrs. Kong”, “Das Schloss”, etc.) with Vienna’s independent opera scene. Shortly thereafter he sang his first Graf Almaviva in German with Opera Project Wien in Vienna’s Akzent Theater, a role that he would go on to perform many times, including a performance with the original instrument orchestra Concilium musicum Wien in the Stadttheater Steyr (Austria). In addition to the role of Eisenstein in Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”, his work in the field of operetta made him a frequent guest in numerous galas throughout Austria.

In recent years, his repertoire has expanded to encompass more roles within the Kavalierbariton fach, such as Posa, Wolfram, and Escamillo. Under the auspices of Vienna’s music society LA PRIMA VOLTA, he sang the roles of Athanaël in Massenet’s “Thaïs”, Zurga in Bizet’s “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” and Ben in Menotti’s “The Telephone”. Returning to the USA he again performed Ben in “The Telephone” and additionally Mr. Gobineau in “The Medium”, in a Menotti double-bill with the Chamber Opera Chicago under the baton of Victoria Bond. He then returned to Vienna, where he created the role of Rob in the cabaret revue “Sei mir gegrüßt, mein Sauerkraut”, which he also co-authored, and sang the role of Wilhelm in a concert performance of the opera “Die Sühne” by the forgotten Austrian composer Josef Wenzl-Traunfels.

He has toured extensively throughout Europe in numerous concerts and musical gala performances, as well as performing many solo recitals in the Baroque Salon of Vienna’s Old City Hall.