About Henry
„Was ist Henry, saget an.....?“
An accomplished soloist in venues across the United States and Germany, Henry Pleas is a tenor equally at home on the operatic stage and intimate recital halls. Mr. Pleas studied at Brown University, the University of Illinois, and Northwestern University, working with teachers Inci Bashar, John Wustman, and Karen Brunnsen, He has been selected for work in master classes with William Warfield, Grace Bumbry, and Regine Créspin and Carol Vaness.
Mr. Pleas has sung under conductors Helmut Rilling, Christoph Eschenbach, James Conlon, Bruno Bartoletti, and Roger Norrington. Principal roles include the title role in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman, Turriddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, and Don Jose in Carmen. Mr. Pleas also has extensive experience in concert and oratorio appearing as soloist in presentations of Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Handel's Messiah, Mozart Requiem, and Vaughan Williams’s Hodie.
Henry Pleas was a finalist in the 2008 Lotte Lehman CyberSing competition, past winner of the Maderia award for Excellence in Music at Brown University, and a past participant in the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. Recently he has enjoyed a renewed focus on chamber works, including a recent performance of Schubert’s Schwanengesang at the Pianoforte Foundation’s 6th Annual Schubertiade and frequent solo recitals at for arts clubs and societies.
Mr. Pleas appears on three commercially released recordings: “Deep River: a Spiritual Journey (1998),” a recording of African-American Spirituals drawn together by a childhood story written for him; “Cantata,” a traditional vocal recital, recorded at the Great Hall of the Krannert Center for Performing Arts, University of Illinois. “Cantata” is titled surrounding the jazz-infused arrangement of African-American spirituals by John Carter and also includes a performance of Liszt's Petrarch Sonnets. Pleas also appears on Chris Garofalo's compiliation disk of original compositions, titled “Silhouettes” (2005) performing the song cycle Within the Circle of the Seasons.