Bulgarian-American baritone Thomas Litchev has been praised as ‘gripping to watch and hear’ (clevelandclassical.com) for his portrayal of the Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli’s PROVING UP with Oberlin Opera Theatre. Thomas is originally from Colorado and is currently London-based while he finishes postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music, where he is a Leverhulme Arts Scholar. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he was awarded the Louise and Marguerite Bloomberg Greenwood Prize. In the 2022/23 season, Thomas made his European-debut at the Trondheim Barokkfest as Adario in Rameau’s LES INDES GALANTES.
In the 2023/24 season, Thomas will make debuts with London-based opera company Gothic Opera as Hudson in Robert Planquette’s RIP VAN WINKLE. He also appears as a baritone soloist for a staged version of THE MESSIAH with Merry Opera. Previously, he was seen in CARMEN (Le Dancaïre, Morales) with St Paul’s Opera. He then joined Opera Kipling’s new production of LA CENERENTOLA as Dandini. This past spring, Thomas was a soloist for the Guildhall Studio Orchestra’s annual ‘American Songbook’ concert, performing songs written by prolific female American songwriters. Last autumn, he went on tour with pianist Iain Burnside in his performance-piece ‘Open your eyes’ that aimed to shine a light on the Climate Crisis in collaboration with the Irish Minister of Culture.
During his time at Oberlin, Thomas was featured in a number of production with Oberlin Opera Theatre. He was seen as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s COSI FAN TUTTE, Demetrius in Britten’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, and as the Second Commissioner in Poulenc’s DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES. Thomas was also a Dannenberg Honours Recital recipient. He also played the role of Ariodate in Handel’s SERSE with the Chautuaqua Institution, where he was a Sabina Mooney Seifart Memorial Scholarship receipient.
In addition to his operatic engagements, Thomas enjoys performing song repertoire and new works. For his Master’s recital at Guildhall, he curated a programme of song from the female perspective centred around Fauré’s song cycle LA CHANSON D’EVE with pianist Héloïse Bertrand. He also performed Kaija Saariaho’s piece for baritone TRUE FIRE with pianist Gavin Roberts. At Oberlin, he was a soloist for the premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s piano concerto WHERE ARE WE NOW, a recording of which was subsequently released with Oberlin Music Label in 2021. He was also seen in the West-Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s COLD MOUNTAIN with the Music Academy of the West in 2019.
