About
Praised for having a voice that is “sweet and supple” as well as “rich and full of passion,” versatile tenor Don Frazure has performed with many opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States. In 2001, the Mississippi native made his New York City Opera debut as Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in Wagner’s Parsifal in 2003. He has also performed with Arizona Opera (L’Elisir d’Amore), Opera Carolina (Magic Flute), Opera Omaha (Falstaff and Don Giovanni), Palm Beach Opera (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Seattle Opera (Cosi fan tutte) and Spoleto Festival USA (The Flying Dutchman).
Dr. Frazure has garnered critical acclaim with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Boston Baroque and the symphonies orchestras of Alabama, Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville, National (Washington D.C) and New Jersey. Dr. Frazure is the tenor soloist for Bach’s Magnificat recorded by the Boston Baroque Orchestra (Telarc, 2005). Dr. Frazure has appeared as tenor soloist with the Bach Society of St. Louis in performances of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Bach’s Mass in b, Goodall’s Eternal Light, along with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Handel’s Messiah at their annual Christmas concert at Powell Hall.
As a choral conductor, Dr. Frazure is founder and music director for the Christ Church Chamber Choir and Orchestra at Christ Church in Fairview Heights, IL. Under his direction, the ensemble has performed the Vivaldi and Rutter settings of Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, the Bach and Rutter settings of Magnificat, Haydn’s Theresienne Messe, and Mozart’s Requiem. Dr. Frazure is also Director of Choral Activities at Greenville University where he conducts the GU Choir and the GU Choral Union which will present their 91st annual performance of Messiah in December 2021.
Don Frazure is the winner of the 2003 Sullivan Award for Vocal Excellence and the 1999 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Voice Competition. Other competition awards include the MacAllister Awards, Opera Index and the Liederkranz Foundation of New York. A graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center, Dr. Frazure holds the B.M. and M.M. degrees in vocal performance from William Carey University and the University of Southern Mississippi respectively. In 2017, Don was named a Borchert Scholar at the Webber Institute for Worship Studies in Jacksonville, FL, where he also earned the Doctor of Worship Studies degree in June 2018. Dr. Frazure has served as the Pastor of Worship Arts at Christ Church of Fairview Heights, Illinois, since 2006.
Affiliations
Member, American Choral Directors Association.
