Richard Cowan

American Richard Cowan is the Founder and Artistic Director of Lyrique en Mer/Festival de Belle Ile. Now the largest Opera Festival in Western France, the ten year old company has performed full productions of operas such as Dido and Aeneas, Carmen, Don Giovanni, le Nozze di Figaro, Zauberflote, Cosi fan Tutte, La Boheme, Orphee et Euridice,and Bluebeard's Castle. He will direct La Traviata for the festival in 2007.
As a singer, Mr. Cowan has appeared in leading roles at the New York Metropolitan Opera (title role in Don Giovanni, Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte and Schaunard in La Boheme), the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Anthony in Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra, Escamillo, Animal Trainer/Athlete in Lulu, Paolo in Simon Boccanegra) Berlin Deutsche Oper (Bluebeard) and across Europe and the United States in other representative roles such as Mozart's Figaro and the Count, Jokannaan(Salome), Nick Shadow (Rake's Progress) and Iago (Otello)
After degrees at Indiana University in vocal performance and musical composition, he completed apprenticeships in Detroit, Central City, Cincinnati, San Diego, and a two year program at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Major contests and awards include National Finalist (winner) of the Metropolitan Opera in 1985, George London Awards Finalist (winner) in 1985, Grand Prize Winner of the Concours International de Chant de Paris in 1987, and a listing since 1991 in the Grove’s Dictionary of Opera. Currently a faculty member at Northern Kentucky University, near Cincinnati, Mr. Cowan teaches vocal technique and opera.
Mr Cowan has appeared in three commercial movie projects including La Boheme, filmed in Paris and Rome, Madama Butterfly, shot in Tunisia, and Ravel's Brain, made in France and Morocco. He was featured as Anthony in Samuel Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra, filmed live at Lyric Opera of Chicago and seen nationally in the USA on the Great Performance series. He welcomes you to the tenth season on Belle Ile.