Tenor John Grau has established himself as renowned performer of oratorio and opera from Baroque to 20th-century music. As a soloist, he has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Ravinia Music Festival, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Festival, and the inaugural Duke University Bach Cantata Series, to name a few.
An exciting interpreter of the music of J.S. Bach, John has repeatedly appeared with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, performing the role of the Evangelist in the St. John Passion, Cantata 55-Ich armer Mensch for tenor, Coffee Cantata, and the Reformation cantatas (79,80,19). He has also appeared as the tenor soloist in the B-minor Mass with the Boulder Bach Festival and the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble, and performed arias in Bach’s St. John Passion at St. Olaf College. In addition, he frequently appears as the tenor soloist with Oratory Bach in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has performed with the Colorado Bach Ensemble.
Recent engagements have also included performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble and the Messiah Choral Society, as well as the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 with the Seicento Baroque Ensemble and at the Montana Early Music Festival.
Although his career is focused on concert work, John has been praised for his appearances on the operatic stage. He has recently appeared as Flute in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, Bardolfo in Verdi’s Falstaff, Dr. Blind in Fledermaus, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, the Tenor Priest in The Magic Flute, and as Henrik in A Little Night Music.
John is a frequent recitalist and is a strong advocate for contemporary music. His recent solo recital programs include the music of Bernstein and Copland, as well as Schubert and Finzi. He performed the tenor premier of the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award for Abbie Biminis’s Nattsanger, and Alec Roth’s Songs in Time of War to enthusiastic audiences in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As well as a thriving solo career, John has appeared with many professional vocal ensembles such as The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, The South Dakota Chorale, and The Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorus with Dale Warland. He has contributed to recordings by The Singers (Mid-Winter Songs, 2010, At The River, 2013) and The South Dakota Chorale (In Paradisum, 2011, Sacred Songs of Life and Love, 2015).
John received his BA in biology and music from St. Olaf College, his Masters in vocal performance from Northern Arizona University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Grau currently teaches and is head of the voice division at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He has previously taught at The University of Colorado-Boulder, and The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Dr. Grau’s scholarly activities contribute to the vocal pedagogy field. He has presented his research on developing tenor voices using excerpts from Handel oratorio arias at the Minnesota Music Educators Association, and at the National Association of Teachers of Singing convention in July of 2014.
An exciting interpreter of the music of J.S. Bach, John has repeatedly appeared with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, performing the role of the Evangelist in the St. John Passion, Cantata 55-Ich armer Mensch for tenor, Coffee Cantata, and the Reformation cantatas (79,80,19). He has also appeared as the tenor soloist in the B-minor Mass with the Boulder Bach Festival and the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble, and performed arias in Bach’s St. John Passion at St. Olaf College. In addition, he frequently appears as the tenor soloist with Oratory Bach in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has performed with the Colorado Bach Ensemble.
Recent engagements have also included performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Rochester Choral Arts Ensemble and the Messiah Choral Society, as well as the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 with the Seicento Baroque Ensemble and at the Montana Early Music Festival.
Although his career is focused on concert work, John has been praised for his appearances on the operatic stage. He has recently appeared as Flute in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, Bardolfo in Verdi’s Falstaff, Dr. Blind in Fledermaus, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, the Tenor Priest in The Magic Flute, and as Henrik in A Little Night Music.
John is a frequent recitalist and is a strong advocate for contemporary music. His recent solo recital programs include the music of Bernstein and Copland, as well as Schubert and Finzi. He performed the tenor premier of the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award for Abbie Biminis’s Nattsanger, and Alec Roth’s Songs in Time of War to enthusiastic audiences in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As well as a thriving solo career, John has appeared with many professional vocal ensembles such as The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, The South Dakota Chorale, and The Minnesota Beethoven Festival Chorus with Dale Warland. He has contributed to recordings by The Singers (Mid-Winter Songs, 2010, At The River, 2013) and The South Dakota Chorale (In Paradisum, 2011, Sacred Songs of Life and Love, 2015).
John received his BA in biology and music from St. Olaf College, his Masters in vocal performance from Northern Arizona University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Grau currently teaches and is head of the voice division at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He has previously taught at The University of Colorado-Boulder, and The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Dr. Grau’s scholarly activities contribute to the vocal pedagogy field. He has presented his research on developing tenor voices using excerpts from Handel oratorio arias at the Minnesota Music Educators Association, and at the National Association of Teachers of Singing convention in July of 2014.