Christopher Hollingsworth

Assistant Professor of Voice & Director of Opera
325-670-1418
HSU Box
School of Music and Fine Arts
Music
Christopher.Hollingsworth@hsutx.edu

Dr. Hollingsworth has appeared with various regional opera companies in the United States. His operatic credits include leading and featured roles in Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, Le nozze di Figaro, Kismet, Madama Butterfly, Roméo et Juliette, Carmen, La Traviata, Les contes d'Hoffman, Die Fledermaus, Street Scene, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. Musical theatre credits include leading roles in Joseph, Showboat, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Big River. Dr. Hollingsworth has also appeared with several regional orchestras as tenor soloist in the Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, Britten's Saint Nicholas Cantata, Beethoven's Ninth Choral Finale, Beethoven's Mass in C, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Mozart's Mass in C, and Haydn's Lord Nelson's Mass. He has also appeared as the tenor soloist in Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder Walzer and Zigeunerlieder. In September 2005 he created the role of Nat in the World Premiere of Nancy Van de Vate's Where the Cross is Made. This opera was released on the Vienna Modern Masters International Label in 2006. He was seen as Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Soo Opera Theatre, Michigan in 2009. The tenor has presented solo recitals, performances, and master-classes in Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In 2010, Dr. Hollingsworth was seen in Canada as the guest tenor soloist on the Chamber Singers of Algoma's "An Evening with Gilbert and Sullivan." Most recently the tenor traveled to the Czech Republic where he recorded the role of Laertes in Nancy Van de Vate's Hamlet with the Moravian Philharmonic. The recording will be released on Vienna Modern Masters International Label in 2012. He has directed numerous opera productions and scenes programs. Recent productions include: Così fan tutte, Orfeo ed Euridice, Gianni Schicchi, The Telephone, Bastien und Bastienne, Amahl and the Visitors, and The Christmas Rose. His coaching credits include: Die Fledermaus, West Side Story, The Merry Widow, The Secret Garden, The Who's Tommy, Evita, Into the Woods, and Candide. Dr. Hollingsworth served on the Illinois State University faculty from 2002-2010 as Assistant Professor in Voice and director of the Opera Practicum. He has also served on the faculty at Syracuse University as Adjunct Professor of Voice and Opera and at Lycoming College as an Adjunct Lecturer in Voice. In addition to his academic appointments, he has served in several choir directing positions. Most recently Dr. Hollingsworth served from 2006-2010 as the Director of Youth Music Ministries at Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, Illinois. While there he led the Chancel Choir on tours concertizing in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Montreal, Canada. Dr. Hollingsworth holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from DePauw University, an M.M. in Opera/Vocal Performance from Binghamton University, and a D.M.A. in Vocal Performance and Literature at University of Illinois. He, his wife Rosie, and their children Colin and Julia are so happy to be a part of the Hardin-Simmons family and Abilene community.