Biography
Baritone CHRISTIAN NOVA has sung in a variety of venues and styles to much critical acclaim: from opera to musicals, cabaret to pop, recordings to industrials. He has appeared with the Los Angeles Opera under the direction of Placido Domingo, Kent Nagano, and Achim Freyer; on Broadway in Cyrano - The Musical, conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos; as “The Phantom” in the U.S. National Tour of Phantom of the Opera; in the World Premiere of The First Picture Show at the Mark Taper Forum, conducted by Kimberly Grigsby (with Estelle Parsons); in the World Premiere of “Nine Walt Whitman Songs” by Marc Blitzstein at the Sala Vanni in Florence, Italy; in Philoktetes at The Getty Villa in Malibu, California (with Henry Goodman); and in Sondheim's Follies with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, conducted by Michael Morgan (with Rita Moreno). Other favorite performances include Closer Than Ever, Evita, Baby, The Student Prince, Ken Hill’s Phantom, A Little Night Music, West Side Story, Carousel, Sweeney Todd, Kismet (with Juliet Prowse), Strike Up the Band (with Tom Bosley), and a new studio recording of Gershwin’s Oh, Kay! (with Dawn Upshaw), among many, many others. For more information, please visit www.lavc.edu/music.
Christian also has vast experience in cabaret performance, having appeared in Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Conventions in New York, San Francisco and Palm Springs. His debut solo CD, Walking Happy (Original Cast Records OC9750), was awarded the 1998 Back Stage Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording. He has performed in the most notable cabaret rooms across the country including Rainbow and Stars, The Russian Tea Room, The Plush Room, The Cinegrill, The Gardenia, Don't Tell Mama and Eighty-Eights and won the Manhattan Association of Cabaret (MAC) Award and Backstage Bistro Award for Outstanding Male Vocalist.
An Associate Professor of Music at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), Christian holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from UCLA, an MFA from UCLA, and a BA from Pomona College. He has additional educational experience from The Royal College of Music in London, the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and Masterclasses with performers Håkan Hagegård, Nigel Rogers, Martial Singher, Craig Carnelia, and Margaret Whiting and conductors William Vendice and Samuel Krachmalnick. In addition to his full teaching schedule, he was instrumental in forming the new LAVC Summerfest program (integrating the LAVC Dance, Music, and Theater Departments) to create a variety of theatrical productions on campus during the summer season. He also produces a “house concert” series in Los Angeles featuring local musicians and composers.
Currently, he is touring a staged performance of The Andrée Expedition (a song cycle by Dominick Argento) with recent appearances at LAVC, Pierce College, and the 2011 Nordic Spirit Symposium at Cal Lutheran University.
“New and Noteworthy” – New York Times
“Nova gave…a Deftly Sharpened Performance” – San Francisco Chronicle
“Nova possesses a thrilling voice, a ripping sense of humor, and a winning personality; he’s the real deal” – Drama-Logue
“Magnificent…artistry of this caliber brings tears to the eyes” – Back Stage
“A gorgeous-voiced singer” – TimeOut New York
“Mr. Nova’s moving vocal interpretation…rendered the audience spellbound” – Nordic Spirit Newsletter
