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The Haitian baritone, Jean Bernard Cerin, completed his DMA in Voice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston and a B.A. in Economics at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Praised for his “burnished tones and focused phrasing,” Jean Bernard Cerin has charmed audiences throughout the USA, France, Austria, and his native Haiti. An avid recitalist, concert artist and opera singer, his engagements have taken him to venues such as the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, The Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington D.C., Beethovenhaus in Baden bei Wien, Boston’s Jordan Hall and Carnegie Hall in NYC among many others.
The music of J.S. Bach has played a significant role in Jean Bernard Cerin’s recent output including the roles of Peter, the High Priest, and Pilate in the North American Premier of the Felix Mendelssohn version of J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew’s Passion (BWV 244) with the Mendelssohn Club Chorus of Philadelphia and several appearances as bass soloist with the Bach Festival of Philadelphia including a critically acclaimed performance of the Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248). Other oratorio highlights include bass solos in Monteverdi’s Vespers, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, W.A. Mozart’s C Minor Mass, and Zoltán Kodály’s Missa Brevis.
A gifted recitalist, Jean Bernard Cerin won the first Gérard Souzay Prize for Best Performance of a French Mélodie at the 2018 Joy In Singing Song Competition in New York City. His video performance of the abolitionist “Oh Say Do You Hear?” for the Star Spangled Music Foundation was featured in the New York Times amid heated national debates about the history of the anthem’s use in political discourse. He appears regularly on the recital platform with his Duo 1717 partner, pianist Veena Kulkarni-Rankin. Duo 1717 reimagines the classical chamber recital in its genre fluid programs that couple traditional classical piano & vocal repertoire with folk songs and original musical folktale adaptations from around the world. The pair recently debuted their newest work, “Allah’s Favorite Butterfly” in a tour of children’s recitals for the Casement Fund in Hudson and Brooklyn New York.
Jean Bernard Cerin regularly interprets music written by composers of today including Byron Au Young’s Turbine for moving choir, dancers and soloists at the Philadelphia Water Works, Almondo Bayollo’s Last Breaths for baritone and Wind Ensemble and Ted Hearne’s Katrina Ballads. This season (2017-2018), his vocal-cello duo, Project Resonance, with Eve Miller premiered Mark Rimple’s Politic Bodies with the composer at West Chester University. Last season (2016-2017), Don St. Pierre wrote them Rumi Songs.
On the operatic stage, Jean Bernard Cerin has portrayed villains, buffoons, and heroes with the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Brevard’s Janiec Opera Company, Center City Opera Theater in Philadelphia, and Opera Philadelphia among others. Favorite roles include W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte as well as Tarquinius in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. |
