Biography

Neil Craighead is a professional bass-baritone opera singer based in Vancouver, Canada. He has been a journeyman of the Canadian operatic scene since his time in the Canadian Opera Company's prestigious Ensemble Studio. His deep, powerful voice has been heard from coast to coast in operatic and concert repertoire of all kinds. Since 2019, Mr. Craighead has expanded his passion to include teaching and returned to his Alma mater, the University of British Columbia to pursue a doctorate in opera performance. He continues to be in demand as both a performer and a pedagogue. Neil is a proud father and devoted husband who enjoys collecting vinyl records, fishing, and carpentry in his spare time.

This season, Mr. Craighead returns to Calgary Opera to begin the season as Masetto and The Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He then returns to Vancouver Opera to reprise his role as the Minskman in Flight by Jonathan Dove, and finishes his season in Edmonton with his role debut as Wotan in their continued ring cycle production of Wagner's Die Walküre. Last season Mr. Craighead made role debuts as  Tripaldi in Ainadamar with Pacific Opera Victoria,  the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen with UBC Opera, Wotan in Das Rheingold at Edmonton Opera, as well as returning to Vancouver Opera as Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. He has performed frequently as a soloist for Handel's Messiah and will join the Regina Symphony Orchestra this Christmas.

Mr. Craighead has performed with many major Canadian opera companies and symphony orchestras. He has been featured in multiple season at the Canadian Opera Company as Ceprano in Rigoletto, Dr. Grenville in La Traviata, O'Donoghue and Osler in Louis Riel, Sciarrone in Tosca, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Oracle in Idomeneo. He is a frequent performer at Pacific Opera Victoria as well, appearing as Minskman in Flight, Don Fernando in Fidelio, and Pietro in Simon Boccanegra. 2019 saw Mr. Craighead make house debuts with Vancouver Opera and Calgary Opera as Colline in La Boheme. He made his role debut as Baron Scarpia in Tosca with Opera on the Avalon in 2018 after performances with Opera de Quebec in Carmen and Die Zauberflote. He was nominated for a Dora Award for his portrayal of Leporello in #UncleJohn with Against the Grain Theatre in 2015.

In 2019 Mr. Craighead was offered a position as an Alumni Mentor at Opera NUOVA and sparked his passion for teaching other singers. Since then he has joined the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and returned to UBC as a doctoral candidate in order to better his pedagogical techniques and understanding. He is frequently engaged as a clinician by private voice teachers and organizations. Neil has taught at Opera NUOVA as a faculty member and the UBC Summer Opera Workshop as an instructor. Mr Craighead works as a teaching assistant at UBC and continues to operate a private voice studio in Vancouver and online.