Bio

Bass-baritone Matthew Acuff received his degree in voice from CalArts and later studied, toured, recorded and appeared in France, Germany, and Holland. Matthew is now based in Southern California.

“…My favorite among the talented cast was bass-baritone Matthew Acuff, whose strong voice and comic acting skills elevated every scene he was in…”

Recent Roles

• Count Rodolfo in Bellini's La Sonnambula (California Opera, Aug '12)
• Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen (California Opera, Aug '12)
• Saretsky / The Captain in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (IOC, June '12)
• Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (Celestial Opera, Apr '12)
• Dr. "Die Fledermaus" Falke in Strauss' Die Fledermaus (LA Metropolitan Opera, Feb '12)
• Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen (LA Metropolitan Opera, Oct–Nov '11)
• Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte (California Opera, Aug '11)
• The Blur in Peter Wing-Healey's The Blur (Mesopotamian Opera Co, Jul '11)
• Marullo in Verdi's Rigoletto (LA Metropolitan Opera, Jun '11)
• Betto in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (Celestial Opera, Apr '11)
• Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte (LA Metropolitan Opera, Feb '10)
• Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust (Celestial Opera, May '09)
• Achilla in Handel's Julius Caesar (Celestial Opera, Nov '08)
• Krušina in The Bartered Bride (Celestial Opera, Apr '08)
• Simon in Die Jahreszeiten (Palisades Symphony, Dec '07)
• Masetto in Don Giovanni (Palisades Symphony, Aug '07)

Ensemble / Concert Work

• Soloist and/or section leader in a variety of concerts from Gregorian chant to Baroque and Classical
• Extensive experience in Europe 2003–2007 with over 20 different groups
• J.S. Bach: B-minor Mass (chorus & solos), Christmas Oratorio (chorus & solos), Matthew Passion (chorus & solos), Johannes Passion (chorus & solos), Magnificat (chorus & solos), Cantatas 127, 140, 156, 182, 245, 124, 159, 129, …
• Handel: The Messiah (chorus & solos), Julius Caesar (role of Achilla), Athalia (chorus)…
• Mozart: Mass in C minor (chorus), Vesperae solennes de Confessore (chorus), Requiem (chorus)…
• Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (chorus), various songs…
• Telemann, Haydn, Gounod, Beethoven…

Other Notable Performance Experience

• Bass Soloist in Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ (Christuskirche, Easter '12)
• Dr. Falke in Strauss' Die Fledermaus (Bellflower Symphony, Jan '12)
• Telemann Kantate 1:797 chorus and solos (Christuskirche, Dec '11)
• J.S. Bach B-minor Mass chorus and solo (LA Bach Festival, Oct '11)
• The Pacelli Project — Italian 16th-century music (Italy, June '07)
• Death in Holst's Savitri (Helios Ensemble, March '07)
• Groom's Confidante in Canticum Canticorum (Academia d'amore, Seattle, Aug '06)
• Roles of The Giant Redwood Chief (patriarch) and Hank (antagonist) in The Tree (LA Theatre Center, Apr '06)
• Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte (LA Repertory Opera, March '06)
• Belcore in The Elixir of Love (Intimate Opera, Feb '06)
• Sarastro in The Magic Flute (Opera Pasadena, Nov '05)
• Quadruple-role of The Villains in Les contes d'Hoffmann (LA Repertory Opera, Oct '05)
• Roles of Amantio and Dr. Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (Intimate Opera Co, Sept '05)
• Masetto in Don Giovanni (LA Repertory Opera Co, June 2005)
• Don Pasquale in Donizetti's Don Pasquale (Opera Pasadena, May '05)
• Soloist in Vesperae Dominicales: Baroque Polish Vespers Reconstruction with Baroque period ensemble Cappella Confluentes, touring Germany & Holland (Spring 2004)
• Bass/baritone soloist at the International Young Composers Meeting in Holland, presenting the world premieres of eleven new works (Feb 2004)
• Role of Seneca in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea (CalArts '95)
• Long Beach Opera Company chorus for four years
• Los Angeles early music ensemble Musica Angelica (directed by Michael Eagan)
• Starring role in a modern operatic setting of Dr. Seuss's book Fox in Socks
• Soloist in the Balkan music ensemble The Toids
• Roles in three new musical comedies: Oh, Hamlet: The Musical!; Dune Warriors: A Post-Apocalyptic Musical; The $5 Show
• Burningman Opera 2002
• Various new plays, 2 radio plays, several short films, numerous performance-art pieces, etc.

Education

• Studies voice with Conrad Immel in Santa Monica, CA
• Amsterdam Academie voor Oude Muziek (under the direction of Max van Egmond)
• Oberlin's Baroque Performance Institute, 2002
• San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque, Renaissance & Medieval workshops, 1996
• Sequentia's Medieval workshops in Vancouver, B.C., 1996
• BFA in Voice, 1997, from the CalArts conservatory in Los Angeles, California

Formal Foreign Language Study

French (levels 1, 2, 3 & 4, immersion), German (1, 2 & 3, immersion), Spanish (1 & 2)