American tenor Christopher Reames is establishing an exciting and engaging career as a concert artist, recitalist, and dynamic performer on the operatic stage. He is a winner of The Gérard Souzay Prize for French Singing sponsored by Dalton Baldwin and administered by The Art Song Preservation Society, and is praised for his “lustrous” singing and “great musicality” by The Examiner. Chris’ compelling performances captivate audiences with beauty and sensitivity.

Chris is a recent finalist in national competitions such as the Joy in Singing Artist Award Competition, New York Oratorio Society Solo Competition, Franco-American Vocal Academy Grand Concours de Chant, Art Song Preservation Society of New York Mary Trueman Song Competition and the National Association of the Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition. Recent operatic performances include Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Prologue/Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw with Stony Brook Opera, Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor, the title role in Weber’s Oberon, Gomatz in Zaide, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with the Manhattan based Occasional Opera Company.

An avid performer of sacred music, his recent concert performances include Uriel in The Creation with the Village Church Choir and Orchestra at Kansas City’s own Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Obadiah in Elijah with the Huntington Choral Society, Evangelist in the St. John Passion, and The Messiah with the Musica Lumina chamber ensemble of Niles, IL and with the Long Island Choral Society, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat with St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church of Bay Shore, NY, excerpts from Bach’s Weihnachts Oratorium with St. John’s Church of Cold Spring Harbor, NY, several of Bach’s sacred cantatas, and secular works by Purcell and Monteverdi with the Stony Brook Baroque Ensemble, and under the direction of John Harbison at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA.

Passionate about the art of recital singing, Chris’ diverse repertoire spans more than 400 years from Monteverdi, Handel, Haydn and Mozart through Beethoven and Schumann to Debussy, Poulenc, Britten, Barber and Messiaen. Highlights include Schubert’s Auf dem Strom, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Poulenc’s Tel jour telle nuit, Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Brahms’ Fünf Lieder, Op. 47, Debussy’s Fêtes galantes, and many selections from The Great American Songbook. He possesses a particular affinity for British art song repertoire and has received great praise from audiences following recent performances of Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge, Finzi’s Farewell to Arms, Gurney’s “Trench” songs, Britten’s Winter Words, and Three Songs from “The Heart of the Matter”, including Canticle III.

In addition to his career as a soloist, Chris has equally thrived in both large and small choral ensembles. He served the celebrated St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church Parish Choir in Bay Shore, NY as a staff section leader and soloist from 2011-18. In a similar role, he has previously served superior choral music programs at Green Valley Presbyterian Church in Henderson, NV, Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS, and the Church of St. Patrick in Huntington, NY. Singing sacred choral music at a high level remains a consistent artistic priority for him, as it has provided many rewarding musical opportunities, and a fulfilling sense of community contribution and leadership.

Chris is a past fellowship recipient at the Tanglewood Music Center, SongFest, Aspen Music Festival, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory’s Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a Master of Music degree from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and a Bachelor of Science degree from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Chris is currently an Associate Professor of Vocal Music at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN.