Brendan is thrilled to return to the Young Vic this summer, having last appeared with the company as Sir Marmaduke in The Sorcerer and as Giuseppe in The Gondoliers.  This production firmly cements Mr. Cooke’s graduation from romantic baritone lead, to creepy old guy. With the Baltimore Opera Company, he has performed many roles, including: Crespel/Schlemil in Les Contes d’Hoffmann,  Gualtiero Valton in I Puritani , Dancaďro in Carmen, Alessio in La Sonnambula, Jero in L’Assedio di Corinto  and the High Priest of Baal in Nabucco.   Other recent performances include the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera North, Sciarrone in Tosca with the Sarasota Opera, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, and Colline in La Boheme with Center City Opera of Philadelphia and with Opera Southwest in Albuquerque, NM.   Brendan holds a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory where he was a student of John Shirley-Quirk.  While at Peabody, Brendan performed the roles of Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Gino Carella in the world premiere of Mark Lanz Weiser’s Where Angels Fear to Tread.  Brendan has appeared as a soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphony Chorus of New Orleans, and recently with the Connecticut Master Chorale for performances of Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and Dvorak’s Te Deum. 

     Brendan is also a full time realtor®/associate broker with Passport Realty in downtown Baltimore, where he works with another Young Vic favorite, Catrin Davies.