Alexander Kariotis & the Rock Opera Orchestra
Saturday, May 24th at 8pm Photo by Tim McNany
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ALEXANDER KARIOTIS (vocals) Exposed to rock n roll at a young age, Alexander was only 9 when he lost both his eyebrows setting off homemade pyrotechnics for his big brother's band. It was love at first . . . light? He quickly formed his first rock band, The Nodes, and frequently opened for Gambler (EMI America), his brother's rock band in Chicago.
After hearing Lucianno Pavarotti sing at Ravinia, Alex was so inspired that he auditioned and won a scholarship to study opera at the Mannes Conservatory of Music in New York City. He kept his hand in pop music by flying back and forth to LA to sing back-up at the Roxy and record with his brother at the famous Warner Bros. Studios in L.A. and Sun Studios in Memphis.
After graduating form Mannes, he moved to LA where he received a full scholarship from UCLA to continue his studies in opera. While there he also played guitar for a few gigs with the Tokens, (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) and wrote songs with his brother for Wrestle Rock!
Soon after that Alex moved to Europe to study with Pavarotti's teacher, Arrigo Pola, and the renowned operatic tenor, Gianni Raimondi. He was a semi finalist in the International Enrico Caruso voice competition for young tenors in Milan.
Alex has performed at the Berlin Philharmonic with the St Hedwigs Orchester, the
Collegium Orchester, the Hohenfels Orchester, and a live radio broadcast for Radio
Brandenburg Berlin. Alex has had numerous solo concerts in LA, Chicago and
Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center. His opera roles to date include Rodolfo
in La Boheme, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Canio in Pagliacci and Nemorino in L' Elisir
D'Amore, to name a few.
While in Europe, Alex was offered a publishing contract for many of his
rock/dance tunes with Warner Chappell/Touch & Go Music. He then decided to return
to America and work on fusing his two passions; rock and opera. Northwestern gave him yet another full scholarship to do his Masters in Voice, and he received stunning reviews for his role as Tony Candolino in Master Class by Terrence McNally. Alex appeared in both the Chicago production, directed by Peter Amster, and the Columbia Artists production in Toronto with Elizabeth Ashley, directed by Leonard Foglia.
In the midst of this, Alex began working on his new style of music. Writing this music
inspired him to create his one-man show, Holdin' On, which premiered at the Laurie
Beechman Theater on 42nd st. in NYC. It has since been performed to great acclaim and SRO houses Off Broadway at the Zipper Theater and the Belt Theater, as well as theaters in New Jersey and LA. It is now under consideration by several theaters around the country and is being directed and dramaturged by Lynn Thomson, dramaturg of the
Broadway hit RENT, on and Off Broadway.
Alex and his music are unique in that he is truly a crossover artist. He has lived in both worlds and unites the fans of both of these genres with his magnetic personality and the innovative music he writes.
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To Benefit the Maplewood Middle School Musical program
Video:
Venue
Maplewood Middle School
7 Burnet Street
Website:
http://www.alexanderkariotis.com
Tickets:
$18 general admission
$15 seniors
$10 students
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