Praised for his “arrestingly warm, masculine sound and abundance of swagger” (Boston Music Intelligencer), Chauncey Blade is a bass-baritone from southern Illinois. In the Spring of 2019, Chauncey made his debut with Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera singing Count Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Previously, he has worked with Opera Saratoga as a young artist; he performed the House Baritone in the U.S. premiere of Gareth Williams and Anna Chatterton’s Rocking Horse Winner, and covered the roles of Bogdonovitch and Kromov in The Merry Widow, Bassett in Rocking Horse Winner, Atticus Finch’s Trainer in Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera, and Secret Police Agent in Menotti’s The Consul. Chauncey made his debut with Adrian Symphony Orchestra as the bass soloist in Fauré’s Requiem. Previous performances include singing Marco in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Harašta in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Pallante in Handel’s Agrippina, and Pandolfe in Massanet’s Cendrillon. Chauncey is currently a student of Dr. Brian Gill and works regularly with coach, Deborah Birnbaum. Prior to Dr. Gill, Chauncey studied with dramatic soprano Martha Sheil. Chauncey received his M.M. from New England Conservatory of Music and received his B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is based in New York City.