Photo by Dorian Studios

Bass John Frankhauser has been singing professionally for more than thirty years and is well known and appreciated by Spokane audiences, his current home.

He has commanded strong reviews from critics, co-performers, and audience members alike for his performances with the Spokane Symphony, Spokane Opera, the Northwest Bach Festival, Connoisseur Concerts, Cathedral and the Arts, KPBX radio, and the Westminster Chamber Orchestra.

John has appeared as a soloist on fifteen occasions with the Spokane Symphony singing various roles including Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème, bass soloist for Handel’s Messiah, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Timur in Turandot, Zuniga in Carmen, and the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” for a Holiday Pops Concert.

Other, recent, Spokane performances include the role of Jesus in Saint John's Passion and bass soloist in Cantata #4 with the Northwest Bach Festival; selected Handel arias with the Westminster Chamber Orchestra and many oratorio roles with other area organizations. Performances with Spokane Opera include Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, The Bonze in Madame Butterfly and William Jennings Bryan in Ballad of Baby Doe.

Cross-cultural musical experiences have included singing in churches in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, Brazil; and performances with “the other company”, a New York based opera company working in conjunction with the Kalispell Tribe, in the opera Iolanta, the opera The Shared Flute (an adaptation of The Magic Flute) and Music for a Sacred Space.

He began his operatic career by appearing with James McCracken and Evelyn Lear in a Washington (DC) Opera Society production of Otello singing the role of Araldo. After winning an audition to become a member of the Minnesota Opera Studio, he performed several roles with the Minnesota Opera Company, including Alaska Wolf Joe in Mahagonny, Micha in The Bartered Bride, and Herald in The Love for Three Oranges. Active in other companies as well, he sang such roles as The Bonze in Madama Butterfly with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, and Kezal in The Bartered Bride for the Lyric Opera Theater in Tempe, Arizona.

John began his musical education in his home state of North Dakota. He continued by earning a Master of Music degree in Voice at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC while performing internationally with the US Air Force Singing Sergeants. He studied with John Bullock in Washington D.C. and currently studies with Dr. Michael Warren of New York City.

He has a wide range of experience in church and community leadership and is currently the treasurer and webmaster of the Anuak Justice Council.

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