Redlands resident Barry Johansson is Executive Director of the brand-new orchestra – the Freedom Philharmonic – and will perform during its inaugural concert “Freedom For All!” on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
The concert will feature a selection of the world’s greatest Broadway and classical music with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, 4th movement, “Ode to Joy,” as the concert finale – all presented by a full orchestra, the SoCAL Chorale, five guest soloists, and more.
Tickets are $32, $52, $82, $122, $175 and are available through Ticketmaster.
Johansson, a high C lyric tenor, will perform “The Prayer” with Mezzo-Soprano Anna Pflieger and “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables.”
He has been singing onstage since he was 3 years old and playing piano and pipe organ since 9 years old.
He received his BA in Music from the Royal Academy of Music in London and has studied at the University of Redlands in Southern California.
Johansson has an extensive repertoire in Opera, Classical, Sacred and Broadway music, and has sung in many venues in the United States and internationally, including The Redlands Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Royal Academy, the University of Redlands, and multiple large churches in the United States, London and Africa.
He has performed in many operas presented by La Casa Italiana Opera Hall productions at St. Peter's Italian Church in Los Angeles: Enzo Grimaldo from Ponchielli's “La Gioconda,” Parpignol the Toy Maker in Puccini’s “La Boheme” (also Rudolfo), “Pearl Fishers Duet” in Bizet's “Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers),” in Donizetti’s “La Fille Du Regiment,” Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” and others.
For 29 years, he has been a voice teacher and coach, and piano instructor in his professional studio, Pathways To Music, in Redlands, CA, where he lives. Besides his music career, Johansson is a Renaissance Man as an interior and floral designer, a chef, and loves to paint and draw.
For more information, visit freedomphilharmonic.org or call Jenneva Guzman, (626) 421-7943.