B i o g r a p h y
Walter Aldrich is a Baritone based out of Chicago, IL. Originally, from Sacramento, California, he received his BM in Music, Magna Cum Laude, from the Sacramento State School of Music, and an MM in Music from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. In addition to his academic achievements, Mr. Aldrich is also an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Lingua e Canto summer opera institute in Italy.
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While studying in Sacramento, Mr. Aldrich won 1st place in the NATS Cal-West Regional Competition and was named a recipient of the Music in the Mountains Lucy Becker Memorial Scholarship. In 2016, he was awarded second place in the Festival of New American Music’s performance competition; and in 2017 was awarded 1st place and Audience Favorite in the Robert S. Dinsmore Opera Scholarship Competition.
Mr. Aldrich has been a featured soloist with many regional ensembles, including Camerata Capistrano, Camerata California, the Auburn Symphony, the Rancho Cordova Civic Light Orchestra, the Music in the Mountains Orchestra, Northwestern Music Academy Orchestra and Chorus, and others. He has been involved with orchestral performances of Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, DeMars’ An American Requiem, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Hadyn's Lord Nelson Mass, and many others. Operatically, he has appeared with the CSUS Opera Theatre as Il Conte Robinson in Cimarosa’s Opera, Il Matrimonio Segreto, as Mr. Peachums in Benjamin Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera, The Preacher in Ellie Siegmeister’s Darling Corie, and as the title role in the CSUS Opera Theatre’s production of Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe. He has also appeared in numerous scenes with the Aspen Music Festival Opera Center, and in 2017 covered the role of Dr. Grenvil in the company’s presentation of La Traviata. In 2018, he returned to the Aspen Music Festival to perform the role of Fiorello in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and to cover the role of Don Basilio in the same production. In recent seasons, Mr. Aldrich sang the role of Don Pedro in Northwestern University Opera Theatre’s production of Berlioz’s Beatrice et Bénédict, and the role of Dr. Falke in Northwestern's production of Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Last summer, he also participated as a principle soloist in the American premiere of Richard Ayres' new opera, The Cricket Recovers, at the Tanglewood Music Festival.
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In addition to his operatic career, Mr. Aldrich has also maintained an active presence as a collaborative pianist, choral conductor, and voice teacher; holding staff pianist and conducting positions at community colleges, universities, and churches for most of his career. Currently, he works as the Director of Music at the Church of St Elisabeth in Glencoe, Illinois, and serves on the music faculty at Lake Forest College as a voice teacher, piano teacher, and staff pianist.