Teacher

Montana native Chas Elliott began his career in musical theatre as a pianist and conductor. He has since become a versatile performer, equally at home on the operatic, orchestral, and musical theatre stages. Chas created roles in Ben Bierman’s The Poem That Nobody Hears and Seymour Barab’s Gallantry in the first season of Opera Shorts at Carnegie Hall. He made his New York City stage debut in 2005 in Anne Phillip’s Bending Towards the Light... a Jazz Nativity at Symphony Space. He has toured the United States with The Ensemble For Early Music under the direction of Frederick Renz.

Chas’ other operatic roles include Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte), Melchior and Balthazar (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Monterone (Rigoletto), the Marchese d'Obigny (La Traviata), and Archeleus (Herod and the Innocents). Theatrical roles include Daddy Warbucks (Annie), Neville Craven (The Secret Garden), Heatherset (Me and My Girl), David Quinn (The Voice Of the Prairie). Orchestral credits include Brahms' Ein Deutches Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat, Reinberg’s Star of Bethlehem, Händel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, Saint-Säens’ Christmas Oratorio, and Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs.

As a musical director, Chas has worked on over one-hundred productions in the United States and Europe for companies including Syracuse Stage, Fordham University, Cortland Repertory Theatre, The Montana Repertory Theater, The Myrna Loy Center, and The Bologna Performing Arts Center. As a collaborative pianist, he has performed with singers across the United States, and in Europe. He served as accompanist for many voice teachers including Amanda Halgrimson, Monica Harte, David Jones, and William Riley. Chas has accompanied ballet classes for Kelsey Kirkland, Anna Paskevska, Sallyann Mulcahy, San Francisco Ballet, Marin County Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Maintaining a private teaching and coaching studio for over thirty years, Chas’ clients have appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on London's West End, and with American and European regional theatres and touring companies. Classical clients have performed on the stages of international opera and concert houses including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dicapo Opera Theatre, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin , Paris' Opera Comiqué, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus, and with regional houses and festivals throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

Chas founded Music Theatre Project (North America) to present American performing arts and artists to international audiences. Since 2015 he has produced over thirty productions showcasing the music of American composers and lyricists in Europe and the United Kingdom. Through his Song for Life program, Chas has raised funding and awareness for non-profit organizations around the globe.