Press

Critical acclaim and features

On Wednesday night, every seat at REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles was filled for the world premiere of In Our Daughter’s Eyes, a new one-man opera by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun, librettist/director Michael Joseph McQuilken, and baritone Nathan Gunn.

Commissioned and produced by Beth Morrison Projects and presented as part of LA Opera’s “Off Grand” series, the 70-minute work is the result of Gunn’s desire to “create a show about the journey from boyhood to manhood: an Odyssey for the modern man.” Du Yun gets top billing, but this feels very much like Gunn’s opera, his passion project, and a vehicle for his specific (and considerable) talents.

In Our Daughter’s Eyes Tells The Story of a Pregnancy, Through His Eyes

Critical Acclaim

But as much as Mark Delavan, Nathan Gunn and Marc Kudisch succeed in appearing as common men with their joviality and agile physical humor, the instant they open their mouths to sing—whether it’s Verdi, Gilbert and Sullivan or Elvis Presley—the concept of common disappears. Instead these gentlemen transport us, with their barreling voices, to the lofty space between heaven and earth, where they claim the baritone resides."

New City Stage

Baritones Unbound / Royal George Theatre

Critical Acclaim

Nathan Gunn was a commanding Billy Bigelow with a voice to match; director John Rando ("Urinetown: The Musical," "A Christmas Story") added insightful bits of staging that softened the character. At the end of "If I Loved You," Rando had Gunn gather fallen blossoms and offer them to Julie in a sudden, spontaneous gesture of love; in the final scene, he had Billy's ghost tenderly gather Julie's shawl around her shoulders to shield her from the encroaching chill."

Opera News

Carousel / The New York Philharmonic

Critical Acclaim

... Nathan Gunn, the sensational baritone -- more typically found at the Metropolitan Opera or Covent Garden -- is soloist for a Mahler song cycle that shone like a new morning at the opening performance ... Gunn, a singer with intense charisma and a voice like honey, applying his expressive instincts to Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" ("Songs of a Wayfarer")."

The Mercury News

‘Conductor George Cleve and baritone Nathan Gunn make Symphony Silicon Valley’s season opener special’

Critical Acclaim

Singing in English trips up many artists, but not Gunn, whose enunciation is so clear that it's not necessary to check the words in the program. He projected the nostalgic and impish texts in three Ives songs to make sure the quirky allure came gleaming through ... Gunn used his dashing voice to emphasize the narcissism in "C'est Moi" and the romantic yearning in "If Ever I Would Leave You." As embraced by the Gunns, these pieces sounded like the treasures of the American songbook that they are."

The Plain Dealer

‘Baritone Nathan Gunn excels in American repertoire in Cleveland recital’

Critical Acclaim

Gunn's performance seemed to grow larger and more indelible with each scene. The American baritone easily embodies the "beauty" and "goodness" that endear Billy to his fellows and incite Claggart's lust for mayhem, and he imbued the character, who can sing but not read, with a fine blend of innocence and physical grace. Gunn's lyrical instrument also seemed ideally suited to the role's vocal demands. His Billy wanted nothing in agility, eloquence or projection; "Look! Through the port comes the moonshine astray!" was delivered with firm, lustrous tone and a deeply affecting sense of revelation."

Opera News

Billy Budd / San Francisco Opera

Critical Acclaim