Tenor Roy Heilman frequently sings in a broad spectrum of styles from the Renaissance to the present, but has primarily made a name for himself as tenor soloist in the music of the Baroque and Classical eras. And while Mozart, Handel, and Haydn are staples of his musical diet, the major works and cantatas of J.S. Bach are the pieces he most often performs. Having been taught to be a versatile musician, he has also premiered many new works.
Mr. Heilman has also been associated with many excellent ensembles, including the Rose Ensemble, the Oregon Bach Festival Berwick Chorus, Vox Humana, Glorious Revolution Baroque, and the recently Grammy-nominated South Dakota Chorale. As a singer of Baroque music, he spends much of his time singing in small ensemble settings with period instruments. With the Twin Cities’ Consortium Carissimi, he recorded three albums of pieces by Italian Baroque composers Carissimi and Graziani, which were released on the Naxos label in 2016. Also in 2016 with Consortium Carissimi, Roy performed the title role in Bernardo Pasquini’s opera Il Tirinto, which had lain dormant since the seventeenth century.
In March of 2017, Roy was tenor soloist in a rare performance of Carl Heinrich Graun’s Der Tod Jesu, with Lyra Baroque Orchestra and guest conductor Simon Carrington. Other recent performances include Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Britten’s St. Nicolas, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and J.S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio, St. John Passion, and Mass in B-minor. Highlights of the 2017-18 season include appearances as tenor soloist in Britten’s Cantata Misericordium, Mozart’s Requiem, and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion as revived and presented by Mendelssohn in 1829.
Roy received his musical training from Gustavus Adolphus College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music with Honors in Performance, and from The New England Conservatory of Music, with a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children, where he is usually caught up in musical or outdoor pursuits. He can always be found at RoyHeilman.com.