Originally from Connecticut, Dr. Christopher Hollingsworth, Chris,  has created art and lived in Indiana, New York, Illinois, and Texas. With over 21 years of collegiate teaching, directing, and musical directing, he currently serves as Director of Musical Theatre at Abilene Christian University and has served on the voice faculties of Illinois State University, Syracuse University, Hardin-Simmons University, and Lycoming College. Chris holds a B.M. in vocal performance from DePauw University, an M.M. in opera/vocal performance from Binghamton University, and a D.M.A. in vocal performance and literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.]

 

Chris has appeared with various regional musical theatre and opera companies in the United States. Musical theatre credits include leading roles in The Secret Garden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Showboat, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Big River, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and My Fair Lady. His professional operatic credits include leading and featured roles in Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, Le nozze di Figaro, Kismet, Madama Butterfly, Roméo et Juliette, Carmen, La Traviata, Les contes d’Hoffman, Die Fledermaus, Street Scene, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. Chris has also appeared with several regional orchestras as tenor soloist in the Messiah, Elijah, Christmas Oratorio, Saint Nicholas Cantata, Beethoven’s Ninth Choral Finale, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Mass in C, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson’s Mass.

 

In September 2005, he created the role of Nat in the World Premiere of Nancy Van de Vate’s Where the Cross is Made. This opera was released on the Vienna Modern Masters International label in 2006. In August 2011, Chris traveled to the Czech Republic where he recorded the role of Laertes in Nancy Van de Vate’s Hamlet with the Moravian Philharmonic also released on Vienna Modern Masters International label.

 

He has directed numerous musical theatre and opera productions and scenes. Recent musical theatre productions include Little Women the Musical, Shrek the Musical, Godspell, The Sound of Music, The Secret Garden, Into the Woods, and Fiddler on the Roof. He has also served as Music Director for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sweeney Todd, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Who’s Tommy, Evita, Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, West Side Story, Candide, Working, Little Shop of Horrors, The Light in the Piazza, The Little Mermaid, Godspell, and Love’s Labour’s Lost. Upcoming ACU productions include Matilda the Musical, The Spitfire Grill, and High School Musical. Along with this, recent opera productions include: The Merry Widow, The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, Orfeo ed Euridice, Gianni Schicchi, The Telephone, Bastien und Bastienne, Amahl and the Visitors, and The Christmas Rose. 

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His former students have appeared at On Broadway, Broadway National Tours, Broadway in Chicago, Off-Broadway in New York City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Colorado, Louisville, Kentucky, Atlanta, Georgia, Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee and in regional theaters and opera companies throughout the United States. They have also been seen on various cruise lines, at Disney World, and the Metropolitan Opera,

 

Chris is blessed to share life with his wife Rosemary (Rosie), his children Colin, Julia, and Ryan.