John Chest

John Chest (born July 6, 1985) is an American baritone opera singer performing with leading opera companies around the world.

Career John Chest was born in Greenville, South Carolina, to parents Sandra Marie Chest and Robert Davis Chest. He started his professional voice studies at Bob Jones University where he got his Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from 2003 to 2007. He then studied at CCPA (Chicago College of Performing Arts) at Roosevelt University, where he graduated with a Master of Music (Voice Performance) in 2009 after two years.

He joined the apprentice program at Santa Fe Opera for the summer of 2008 where he covered the Bosun in Britten's Billy Budd (an introduction to an opera in which he is now known for playing the title role ). Chest joined the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera in 2009 and there sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He concluded his formal studies as a member of the professional at Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 2009 to 2011, singing in more than eighty performances with Germany's largest opera company.

Chest continued to train with the Chicago Opera Theater, in addition to joining the ensemble of Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he remained until 2016. His roles in Berlin included the title role of Billy Budd in a new production by David Alden; Valentin (Faust), Ford (Falstaff), Silvio (Pagliacci), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Gugliemo (Così fan tutte) and Il Conte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro).

A finalist in the BBC Singer of the World Art Song Competition, he has also appeared in recital at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, and Wigmore Hall. He has made appearances on three Fauré CD's with pianist Malcolm Martineau.

Repertory