A central figure in the Washington-area classical music scene, The Washington National Opera has featured him in numerous roles totaling more than 250 performances. He has also sung ten roles with the Washington Concert Opera.
Recent career highlights include the role of Ishmael in the world premiere of Peter Westergaard’s Moby Dick at Princeton University (recorded for Albany Records), his Metropolitan Opera debut in Prokfiev's War and Peace, which he also recorded during The Spoleto Festival’s production, released on the Chandos label.
With the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, Mr. Baker was soloist on the 1996 Grammy Award-Winning recording Of Rage and Rembrance by John Corigliano (BMI: 1996) and last season sang Triquet in the NSO’s presentation of Eugene Onegin.
This season Mr. Baker has been seen in Peter Grimes and Turandot with the Washington National Opera, Carmina Burana with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with the Apollo Chorus in Chicago. He also has premiered over 15 major works in his career, and is a frequent collaborator with DC composer Douglas Boyce.
Mr. Baker is proud to have sung with all the major choral organizations in Washington, DC, starting with the Paul Hill Chorale in 1979, and continuing with Norman Scribner, Reilly Lewis, Robert Shafer, Donald McCullough, Gisele Becker and Tom Beveridge.
The Director of Performance Studies at The George Washington University, Mr. Baker and his wife live in Washington, DC with their daughter, Madeline, a member of the Children’s Chorus of Washington.
