Biography
Blake Parham is a Polish based Australian character tenor. A young artist at the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School and with Pacific Opera. He holds a PhD from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a masters degree in music from the Elder Conservatorium University of Adelaide.
Blake has performed the roles of ‘Toby’ in George Palmer’s Cloudstreet (State Opera of South Australia - Workshop), ‘Remendado’ in Carmen (Queensland Symphony Orchestra), ‘The Messanger’ in Aida (Australian International Opera Company - Tour of China), ‘Pedrillo’ in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and ‘Eisenstein’ in Die Fledermaus (Opera Bites), 'The Prologue' and 'Peter Quint' (Understudy) in The Turn of the Screw (Dartington Music Festival), 'Rail de Saint-Brioche' in Die Lustige Witwe (Opera de Baugé), ‘Basilio’ in Le Nozze di Figaro, ‘Vasek’ in The Bartered Bride, and ‘Pluto’ in Orpheus in the Underworld (Rockdale Opera), ‘Goro’ in Madama Butterfly (Opera Projects, Sydney), ‘Monostatos’ in Die Zauberflöte (Opera Laboratory - Cover: Opera de Baugé), ‘Tinca’ in Il Tabarro (Beaches Productions), Samuel’ in The Pirates of Penzance (G and S Society SA), and ‘The Baker’ in Into the Woods (Elder Conservatorium). He has also appeared in the chorus for several productions with the State Opera of South Australia including Moby Dick (Jack Heggie), Hamlet (Brett Dean), and in the 'Lehrbuben' for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Blake’s concert repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah (Newcastle Cathedral, Illawarra Choral Society), Dvorak’s Stabat Mater (Illawarra Choral Society), Beethoven's Choral Fantasy (Dartington Music Festival), Bach’s Cantata BWV182 (Avondale and Sydney Conservatorium), Haydn’s St Nicholas Mass (Port Stephen’s Singers), Walton’s Façade (Vacation Chamber Orchestra – England), Jenkins’ The Armed Man and Gounod’s St Cecelia Mass (Adelaide Philharmonia), Schubert’s Mass in G (Sydney Conservatorium), Mozart’s Requiem (Sutherland Choral Society, the Central Coast Philharmonia), and Copland’s Old American Songs (Beecroft Orchestra). Additionally, Blake has appeared in concerts with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the University of St Andrews, the Dundee Cathedral, the Polish Musicians Association (Warsaw), the Barossa Vintage Festival, the Polish Embassy in Canberra, the National Wine Centre, the Macquarie University Orchestra, the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Provence cote D’Azur, the Edinburgh Grand Opera, at the Organowe Brzmienia Festiwal, and at the Sydney Opera House.
Awards include the George Boland Scholarship, the 5Mbs Young Virtuosi Award, runner up in the Australian Vocal and Concerto Competition, runner up in the Arnold Matters Scholarship, and an Arts SA Grant to study with Peter Coleman-Wright. Blake has received tutelage from a number of noted professionals including Wieslaw Ochmann, Tom Randle, Graham Clark, Ralf Ernst, Grant Doyle, Anthony Legge, Sharolyn Kimmorley, Simon Kenway, Stuart Maunder, Ghillian Sullivan, and John Bolton Wood.
As a musicologist he has presented at conferences at the Melbourne Conservatorium, the Perth Cathedral (Scotland), the Lithuanian Composers’ Union, the University of Glasgow, the Fryderyk Chopin Music University, the Krakow Academy of Music, Griffith University, the Sydney Conservatorium, the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, and the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Blake has published articles with the Cambridge Scholars, the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Polski Rocznik Muzykologiczny, and the Lithuanian Composers' Union.
Blake has performed the roles of ‘Toby’ in George Palmer’s Cloudstreet (State Opera of South Australia - Workshop), ‘Remendado’ in Carmen (Queensland Symphony Orchestra), ‘The Messanger’ in Aida (Australian International Opera Company - Tour of China), ‘Pedrillo’ in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and ‘Eisenstein’ in Die Fledermaus (Opera Bites), 'The Prologue' and 'Peter Quint' (Understudy) in The Turn of the Screw (Dartington Music Festival), 'Rail de Saint-Brioche' in Die Lustige Witwe (Opera de Baugé), ‘Basilio’ in Le Nozze di Figaro, ‘Vasek’ in The Bartered Bride, and ‘Pluto’ in Orpheus in the Underworld (Rockdale Opera), ‘Goro’ in Madama Butterfly (Opera Projects, Sydney), ‘Monostatos’ in Die Zauberflöte (Opera Laboratory - Cover: Opera de Baugé), ‘Tinca’ in Il Tabarro (Beaches Productions), Samuel’ in The Pirates of Penzance (G and S Society SA), and ‘The Baker’ in Into the Woods (Elder Conservatorium). He has also appeared in the chorus for several productions with the State Opera of South Australia including Moby Dick (Jack Heggie), Hamlet (Brett Dean), and in the 'Lehrbuben' for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Blake’s concert repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah (Newcastle Cathedral, Illawarra Choral Society), Dvorak’s Stabat Mater (Illawarra Choral Society), Beethoven's Choral Fantasy (Dartington Music Festival), Bach’s Cantata BWV182 (Avondale and Sydney Conservatorium), Haydn’s St Nicholas Mass (Port Stephen’s Singers), Walton’s Façade (Vacation Chamber Orchestra – England), Jenkins’ The Armed Man and Gounod’s St Cecelia Mass (Adelaide Philharmonia), Schubert’s Mass in G (Sydney Conservatorium), Mozart’s Requiem (Sutherland Choral Society, the Central Coast Philharmonia), and Copland’s Old American Songs (Beecroft Orchestra). Additionally, Blake has appeared in concerts with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the University of St Andrews, the Dundee Cathedral, the Polish Musicians Association (Warsaw), the Barossa Vintage Festival, the Polish Embassy in Canberra, the National Wine Centre, the Macquarie University Orchestra, the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Provence cote D’Azur, the Edinburgh Grand Opera, at the Organowe Brzmienia Festiwal, and at the Sydney Opera House.
Awards include the George Boland Scholarship, the 5Mbs Young Virtuosi Award, runner up in the Australian Vocal and Concerto Competition, runner up in the Arnold Matters Scholarship, and an Arts SA Grant to study with Peter Coleman-Wright. Blake has received tutelage from a number of noted professionals including Wieslaw Ochmann, Tom Randle, Graham Clark, Ralf Ernst, Grant Doyle, Anthony Legge, Sharolyn Kimmorley, Simon Kenway, Stuart Maunder, Ghillian Sullivan, and John Bolton Wood.
As a musicologist he has presented at conferences at the Melbourne Conservatorium, the Perth Cathedral (Scotland), the Lithuanian Composers’ Union, the University of Glasgow, the Fryderyk Chopin Music University, the Krakow Academy of Music, Griffith University, the Sydney Conservatorium, the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, and the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Blake has published articles with the Cambridge Scholars, the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Polski Rocznik Muzykologiczny, and the Lithuanian Composers' Union.