How to Use countertenor in a Sentence

countertenor

noun
  • The viol consort and the countertenor voice were once relics of the past.
    — Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2019
  • The arias for Dionysus, a countertenor role, are eerie tours de force.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2021
  • The countertenor double feels like the kind of idea that gets embraced at a brainstorming session.
    — New York Times, 24 Nov. 2021
  • The four male voices are countertenor, tenor, baritone and bass; and the one female voice is a soprano.
    — Mike Giuliano, baltimoresun.com, 12 Dec. 2019
  • His countertenor voice and phrasing—both mellifluous and frayed around the edges—convey anguish and hope.
    — Marc Myers, WSJ, 12 Feb. 2022
  • Unnoticed by me was the fact that Tim was a countertenor, and I a bargain basement bass.
    — Kevin Fisher-Paulson, SFChronicle.com, 16 June 2020
  • For a countertenor, Orliński has a voice that does not go especially high.
    — Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 15 July 2019
  • One of the most recent is by the engaging French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.
    — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2020
  • And the countertenor Iestyn Davies, has managed to play both the Met and Broadway this season.
    — Charles Passy, WSJ, 7 Mar. 2018
  • Holiday is a countertenor with a love for opera, and his high range talents shocked the judges, three of whom turned (Blake Sheldon was the odd one out).
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 20 Oct. 2020
  • Rather than relying on falsetto as a countertenor would, Mariño, 28, is able to comfortably sing high notes with his chest voice.
    — New York Times, 27 May 2022
  • But many contemporary composers, like Philip Glass and Thomas Ades, are making use of countertenors as well.
    — Washington Post, 2 July 2019
  • As the group began its final performance of the day, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo kicked off the show from the bed of the truck.
    — Robert Bumsted, Star Tribune, 13 Oct. 2020
  • Daniel Bubeck was a rather hooty version of a countertenor — and there’s little evidence that Bach had his alto solos sung by falsettists, as opposed to boys.
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 1 May 2023
  • And Washington is our modern Versailles, just as sick as the palace of the French royals but without the rouge and powdered wigs and countertenors.
    — John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 1 June 2018
  • The countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim made a headstrong Nero, with his wildly punkish blond hair and a wiry physique always coiled and ready to pounce.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2017
  • David Daniels arrived at the University of Michigan highly regarded as one of the great countertenor opera singers of his time.
    — David Jesse, Detroit Free Press, 9 Apr. 2020
  • Reginald Mobley made the countertenor argument compellingly on Friday.
    — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2025
  • This was the brainchild of the countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, who accompanied squads of players in more than eighty concerts across the five boroughs.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2020
  • Where the strain required for a tenor to hit that upper register lends these verses an acerbic, explosive edge, a countertenor can approach the same lines with lamblike lyricism, as Mobley did.
    — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2025
  • Indeed, only by sticking to a film format could the lightweight company have secured a star as luminous as countertenor Bejun Mehta, brimming with pathos in the lead role.
    — Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 8 Dec. 2021
  • The clarion-voice countertenor John Holiday breaks your heart as John Blue, a transgender man embraced by this new family.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 20 Sep. 2017
  • The work will feature crowd-pleasing countertenor Reginald Mobley and opera vocalist Lauren Snouffer.
    — Ben Crandell, sun-sentinel.com, 8 Oct. 2021
  • As Song, Kangmin Justin Kim used his versatile countertenor to trace his character’s development from meek to forceful.
    — Dallas News, 1 Aug. 2022
  • The production will feature professional opera singers, including a countertenor, accompanied by dancers and live harpsichord music.
    — Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
  • The one disappointment was Biraj Barkakaty as the third Israelite, whose smallish countertenor failed to project adequately over the orchestra.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 28 Feb. 2018
  • Chorus and other soloists (soprano Ying Fang, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and bass-baritone Nicholas Newton) were all convincing.
    — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2026
  • Last year, director Barrie Kosky created a sensation with his staging at Komische Oper Berlin, which starred American countertenor John Holiday.
    — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
  • In a dressing room near the amphitheatre on Little Island, a makeup artist (James Kaliardos, standing) was pouring his attention and a wealth of beauty supplies onto a countertenor (Anthony Roth Costanzo, seated).
    — Henry Alford, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
  • It’s set to feature soprano Joélle Harvey, countertenor Hugh Cutting, tenor Andrew Haji, baritone Joshua Hopkins and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Jenny Wong.
    — Anne Schrager, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'countertenor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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