Baritone Sean Watson is a graduate of the opera programme at the University of Toronto. Mr. Watson has sung throughout Canada, Europe and the Middle East and has been a featured soloist on several international television and radio broadcasts.
After his return from Europe, where he spent two years in Hungary, he sang Dubois's Les Sept Paroles du Christ for both the Choeur Ville-Marie and Le Grand Choeur de Montréal, for whom he also sang the Mozart Requiem. Increasingly in demand for his oratorio performances, Mr. Watson made his Chorus Niagara début in Handel's Solomon and then returned to perform in the Christmas Oratorio. He performed both the role of Jesus and the arias in Bach's St. Matthew Passion for the Carleton Choir of Ottawa and then returned to Ottawa to sing Haydn's Creation for the Ottawa Choral Society, a role he repeated in the next season for the St. Lawrence Choir of Montreal. He joined the Bach Choir of Ottawa as bass soloist in Bach's Magnificat and Handel's Dixit Dominus followed by his début with les Voix Baroques of Montreal in Britten's Journey of the Magi. In 2003, he made his Toronto Bach Consort début in Bach's Christmas Oratorio and returned to them to sing in Bach's Coffee Cantata and assorted masses. Last season he made his Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir début in Bach's Christmas Oratorio and sang in their production for tsunami relief of Mozart's Requiem. Recently he made his Kingston Symphony début in Bach's St. John Passion and sang Messiah for the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto. Sean made his Elora Festival début in a Vivaldi/Handel concert in the spring of 2006.. 2006 and sang later that year with the Bach Elgar Choir of Hamilton. Last season he made his Windsor Symphony début singing Bach Cantatas. Last summer's engagements included Israel in Egypt for the Grand River Baroque Festival, a performance which he repeated in November with the Aradia Ensemble and recorded for Naxos.
In October of 2003 he made his Opera Ontario début as Dr. Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and returned to sing Masetto in Don Giovanni. In the spring of 2004 he made his Opera in Concert début as Argante in Rinaldo, which was subsequently recorded for Naxos. He returned in the fall of 2004 to Opera in Concert to sing Juanillo in El Gato Montess and in the spring to sing in Maria Stuarda. In 2006 he sang in Wienerblute for Toronto Operetta and in Vivaldi's opera La Griselda for Opera in Concert. The 2007-08 season includes the role of Lord Rochfort in Anna Bolena for Opera in Concert and the title role in The Mikado for Toronto Operetta. He made his début for Opera Lyra Ottawa in the Silver Cast as Dr. Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and sang again for them as the Baron in La Traviata in 2008
Mr. Watson was bass soloist for the Ottawa Choral Society in their 1996 European tour, which included Mozart's Requiem, performed with the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra in Karlovy Vary and Plzen in the Czech Republic and Schubert's Mass in G, sung at a high mass in Munich, Germany. In the summer of 1997, Mr. Watson sang at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. Engagements in 1997 included Elijah for MasterWorks of Washington, D.C., Christmas Oratorio with the Ottawa Choral Society and gala concerts in the opera houses of Avignon, France and Livorno, Italy as part of the Grand Prize tour with Les Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. Other previous engagements include Carmina Burana with le Choeur de la Montagne in Montreal, Israel in Egypt with the Ottawa Choral Society and Bach's Christmas Oratorio with l'Orchestre de Laval. More recently, he sang Puccini's Messa di Gloria for Ottawa's Centennial Choir.
Mr. Watson currently resides in Toronto.