Chester Pidduck recently joined the San Francisco Opera Chorus and appeared as A Trojan Man (Idomeneo) and The Prune Vendor (La Bohème) last season. A native of Canada, Chester was raised in St. Louis, did his undergraduate work at Hendrix College and the University of Salamanca, Spain, and received his Master of Music degree from Indiana University in 2007. He has also studied in German and French immersion programs, including Paris, 2007. In 2007, Chester sang four roles with Opera Colorado and two roles with Colorado Light Opera. Chester has done apprenticeships with Glimmerglass Opera, Central City Opera, Nashville Opera, and Sarasota Opera. He was also selected for Glimmerglass Opera’s Spring Tour in 2006. Chester Pidduck was concert soloist several times and had roles in six operas while working on his Master of Music degree at Indiana University. In 2006 he performed the role of Simon Stimson in the world premiere of Rorem’s Our Town. Chester has sung five roles with Union Avenue Opera and another five with Opera in the Ozarks. Favorite roles performed include Nemorino in (L’elisir d’amore), Ferrando in (Cosi fan tutte), Tamino in (The Magic Flute), Camille in (The Merry Widow), Orpheus in (Orpheus in the Underworld), Lieutenant Cable in (South Pacific) and the Witch in (Hansel und Gretel). He’s done programs with the Brevard Music Center, Middlebury College, and Hot Springs Music Festival.

Mr. Pidduck has been tenor soloist in many concerts with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Society of St. Louis, and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Favorites to perform as tenor soloist are Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and Handel’s Messiah. He was the Tenor Young Artist for the Bach Society for two seasons. Chester studied in Paris for several months last year. He has received awards or scholarships from Indiana University, Opera in the Ozarks, 5 Towns Music and Art Competition, and the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs. Chester studies with Dr. Robert Harrison.