Hey, I'm Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek. I love to play gentle music.
At UW Madison, I'm studying opera performance under Professor Paul Rowe . My classical experience includes the roles of Antonio in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (as an Opera PROPS Scholarship winner) and Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. I was one of two individuals selected to receive coaching from the internationally acclaimed baritone Nathan Gunn in a masterclass in March '07. I received exciting reviews by The Capital Times, The Wisconsin State Journal, and Fanfare Magazine when I played Grosvenor in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience put on by the Madison Savoyards during their 2006 season. This summer I am studying with Julia Faulkner and playing the part of Marco in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi in La Musica Lirica 's production in Novafeltria, Italy. Professor Richard Davis gives me pointers on my jazz singing and insights into the study of jazz. I have jazz combo and big band experience, and this spring I was the first full-time vocalist with the UW Big Band. My songwriting experience came from years of playing that culminated in summer '06 at Berklee College of Music in Boston with the wonderful songwriting faculty, including Andrea Stolpe .
My band, Simply Put , plays some of my tunes as well as rejuvenated jazz standards, rock, and hip-hop covers.
I'm ectatic to carry music inside. Levity is what life is all about! Sound is meant for goofing, for expressing, for enjoyment, for spontaneity. That attitude is one I like to cultivate.
