Krishan graduated from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1996. In the summer of the same year he sang in the Tanglewood production of Britten's Peter Grimes under the direction of Seiji Ozawa.
Krishan had begun singing while attending Smithfield High in Rhode Island
by joining the school's Chamber Singers. His teacher, Bob Cleasby, helped him
broaden his horizons by urging him to take a role in the school's production
of The Sorcerer.
While in college Krishan sang regularly at various local churches and also appeared in the productions of regional opera companies. At 19 he became tenor soloist for the Church of Epiphany in Providence, and co-directed the children's choir at St. Philip's in Greenville, winning the Louis Appleton Award in 1994 for his accomplishment in liturgical music.
At New England Conservatory Krishan's voice training was mentored by David Arnold, Metropolitan Opera baritone. As a soloist with the Conservatory Chamber Singers he performed regularly at Boston's Symphony Hall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University as well as at Conservatory's own Jordan Hall.
Since 1991, Krishan has performed in over twenty operatic and theatrical productions throughout New England, with some fifteen leading roles to his credit. He has appeared in such diverse productions as Madama Butterfly, Guys & Dolls, and Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. He has sung with the Bel Canto Opera, Ocean State Light Opera (OSLO), and Orchard Place Opera Workshop (where he sang the role of Bill in the Samuel Barber mini-opera A Hand of Bridge).
Krishan has also had the role of concert soloist with numerous university ensembles. Besides NEC, he has performed with the University of Rhode Island Chorus & Orchestra, and the University of Connecticut Chorus (as tenor soloist in Handel's Messiah). He has been heard at such venues as Symphony Hall in Boston, Boston Ballet, Harvard University, Brown University in Providence, and at Newport's Belcourt Castle. Krishan has performed in numerous music festivals as well, including a 1996 appearance at the Modadnock Music Festival in New Hampshire, in a production of the Gertrude Stein/Virgil Thompson opera The Mother of Us All. Recently, Krishan has been a soloist with the Chaminade Opera Group in Puccinni's Turandot (1998), and with the Schola Cantorum of Boston in Purcell's Te Deum (1999).
Media reviews of Krishan's work have been generous. In August 1994, the Martha Vineyard Times referred to Krishan's role of Frederic, in a local OSLO staging of The Pirates of Penzance, as "awesome", taking note of his singing as "one of the loveliest voices heard on this island in a long time". Recently William Gale of the Providence Journal wrote: "Krishan Oberoi ... sang beautifully".
Practice, Practice, and more Practice!
In Krishan's old home town of New York, musical lore has it that when a tourist asked a local how one might get to Carnegie Hall, the answer was: "Practice, Practice, and more Practice!". It is advice that Krishan has taken to heart. He continues his voice training by working with Noel Velasco (a tenor with performance experience in much of New England, New York, and Europe).Krishan has been working professionally in music ministry since the age of 19, and as an accomplished liturgical musician has been involved with the music programs at several area churches, including St. Ignatius Loyola at Boston College, Grace Church in Providence, the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Newport, and St. Philip Church in Greenville (where he was assistant organist for 3 years).
Since September of 1999 Krishan has been the Director of Music at St. Anthony Church in North Providence, Rhode Island.
