Press

Don Marco Bomba in Don Bucefalo - Pacific Opera Project 2024

[Contreras] was surrounded by able singer-comedians, among them Véronique Filloux, Eric Botto, Dominic Salvati, Joel Balzun, Erin Alford and Mariah Rae, all of whom excellently mastered roles they likely will never have an opportunity to sing again. …This will go down as one of the performances of the year.
Mark Swed, LA Times, November 2024

Joel Balzun’s Don Marco Bomba, a buffoonish local “authority”, provides a perfect foil to Contreras’s Don Bucefalo, delivering his lines with impeccable timing; his booming bass voice that contrasts nicely with the lighter voices around him.
Michael M. Landman-Karny, Stage and Cinema, November 2024

Escamillo in Carmen - Union Avenue Opera 2024

Joel Balzun makes a thunderous entrance as Escamillo, the bullfighter who is Don José’s successor in Carmen’s affections. Balzun leaves no doubt about Escamillo’s prowess and aplomb in the famous Toreador Song in Act 2 and in his sword-brandishing march down the center aisle on his way to the bull ring in Act 4.
Gerry Kowarsky, HECMedia, July 2024

Joel Balzun sings this rock-star bull-fighter, and he well deserves the praises of the crowd.  His wonderful vocal power makes a triumph of the “Toreador Song”. 
Steve Callahan, Broadway World, July 2024

Canadian baritone Joel Balzun also makes his UAO debut as the dashing toreador Escamillo, singing his arias with noted panache.
Mark Bretz, Ladue News, July 2024


[Quagliata’s] chemistry with baritone Joel Balzun’s swaggering, supremely self-confident toreador Escamillo is palpable.  Balzun has a booming voice that they could probably hear out on Delmar on opening night. He completely dominates the stage during the familiar Toreador song in Act II.
Chuck Lavazzi, KDHX, July 2024

Giorgio Germont in La traviata - Opera Santa Barbara 2022

…Alfredo’s father Giorgio Germont, in a standout performance by baritone Joel Balzun.
Leslie Dinaberg, The Santa Barbara Independent, June 2022

Don Quichotte in Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding - Opera Saratoga 2021

Due to indisposition, the scheduled Quichotte, [redacted], vividly mimed his part while baritone Joel Balzun doubled his duties as a shepherd with an impressive on-score performance showing style, agility, musical and linguistic precision. …Balzun and Naomi Brigell—a shepherdess here but Pedrillo at other shows—showed off the voices best trained and adapted for Baroque music.
David Shengold, Opera News, August 2021

[redacted] appeared on stage as Don Quichotte, but Joel Balzun sang the role from the side of the pavilion. Balzun did a commendable job: he was obviously well versed in the role, and his polished baritone is a particularly fine instrument. Balzun was also a sport, and he donned a hat and joined the chorus in the dancing and singing, which was his original assignment in this performance.
Rick Perdian, Seen and Heard International, July 2021

The scheduled Quichotte, was having vocal issues and so his part was divided. Baritone Joel Balzun sang the role with strength and security while standing at stage left, as [redacted] acted the role in costume. This meant that often Quichotte was acting on one side of the stage but his voice came from the other side, thus giving the effect of opera in surround sound.
Joseph Dalton, Times Union, July 2021

Betto/L’horloge comtoise in Gianni Schicchi/L’enfant et les sortilèges - Pacific Opera Project 2020

Joel Balzun regaled us with one of the best star turns of the day as Ravel’s Clock. Wedding uninhibited, goofy stage business to his ringing, imposing baritone, Mr. Balzun served notice that at this moment, the stage was his. Earlier, he contributed a firmly presented take on Puccini’s Betto.
          James Sohre, Opera Today, January 2020

Joel Balzun, Betto in “Gianni Schicchi,” is a wonderfully hysterical Clock come to life in “L'Enfant.” 
          Gordon Williams, Operawire, January 2020

Soloist in A Wagnerian Idyll - Pittsburgh Festival Opera 2018

"Most impressive among the evening’s young artists was baritone Joel Balzun, an already mature artist with a voluminous sound that he had always under control, capable of scaling down and coloring the words for the meaning and emotive purposes."
          Robert Croan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 2018

Joseph De Rocher in Dead Man Walking - Miami Music Festival 2017

“Joel Balzun, como el reo en el pabellón de la muerte, tuvo momentos brillantes y fue siempre muy creíble en su papel.” [“Joel Balzun, as the death row inmate, achieved brilliant moments, and in every way made his role believable.”]
          Daniel Fernández, el Nuevo Herald, July 2017

“As De Rocher, the baritone Joel Balzun was the portrait of the slovenly, scary Death Row inmate, with shackles, tattoos and an exposed undershirt. With a stentorian voice, he managed his character’s transformation from the face of criminal menace glaring from the newspaper photos to a portrait of raw humanity, filled with fear, guilt and a wisp of hope that something could transform his life this late in the game.”
          David Fleshler, South Florida Classical Review, July 2017

Review of beautiful small things (Lynx Project album featuring songs by Joel Balzun)

March 2017 – Lucky is perhaps the most distinct song on the album, featuring an incredibly effective opening based on noise, speech, and other techniques that realize one of the core themes of the album: the desire to speak and to be heard… the music […] makes it all the more so [heartbreaking]. ... My Light […] is also a musical standout, with an especially striking opening on the piano and haunting vocal part…
Sofía Rocha, I Care If You Listen/American Composers Forum, March 2022

Review of Joel Balzun’s Miracle Ten-Zero-Two-Five-One

“At only 19, [Joel] Balzun shows much promise as a composer.”
          Charles Velte, Daily Courier (Kelowna, BC), November 2010

“... Joel Balzun, was the winner of the NBO’s first Galaxie Rising Star Composers’ Competition for composers [under] on 35 with Miracle Ten-Zero-Two-Five-One, a very sophisticated piece...it’s clear that the state of new composition in Canada is healthy.”
          Lloyd Dykk, straight.com (Vancouver, BC), November 2010

Review of Joel Balzun’s A Missing Generation (For Orchestra)

“With simple Cambodian melodies floating through the larger piece, [Joel] Balzun created a haunting and beautiful work that evoked the scale and scope of a people gutted by their government and the hope that sustains humanity even during chaos and horror. ...it was emotionally effective and well received. Balzun reflects the talent here in Alberta and I’ll look forward to hearing his future works.”
          Andrea Brussa, Brussa Bravo! Legacy Program, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, June 2010

“...the Balzun work displays an impressive mastery of orchestral writing that reminds you of Hollywood epic (a la Exodus)-meets-Mahler, especially in the big play on the major-minor treatment that Balzun accords his own variant on Frere Jacques for the bulk of the piece. Ending on a jubilant note, A Missing Generation struck an obvious positive chord with many of the younger members of the audience - as well it should, given the buildup of excitement that came through in the writing and the CPO realization of it. Clearly, a composer to watch.”
          Bob Clark, Calgary Herald, May 2010