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French tenor Benjamin Bernheim’s recent seasons have established him as a regular guest artist at Europe’s leading opera houses, including the Opéra national de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Opéra national de Bordeaux and the Royal Opera House in London where he performs leading tenor roles from the romantic repertoire. Garnering high praise with both his performances and recordings, he has been hailed as “The most beautiful tenor voice since Luciano Pavarotti” by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and “the new star tenor” by Diapason. In 2020, he was named “Artiste Lyrique de l’Année” (Opera Singer of the Year) at the Les Victoires de la Musique Awards in France, “personnalité musicale de l’année” (Musical Personality of the Year) by Le Syndicat professionnel de la critique de théâtre, musique et danse, and Singer of the Year by Oper! Magazin.. The same year, his debut album was also awarded a “Diapason d’Or” by Diapason, and was named a “Choc de Classica” by Classica.
Mr. Bernheim’s 2022/23 season brings him to the Wiener Staatsoper, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Opernhaus Zürich and the Metropolitan Opera among others. At the start of the season, Mr. Bernheim returns to one of his signature roles, Des Grieux in Manon at the Staatsoper Hamburg. Mr. Bernheim then performs Duca in Verdi’s Rigoletto twice in a row; first at the Wiener Staatsoper and then at the Metropolitan Opera where he makes his much-anticipated house debut. This is followed by his highly-praised interpretation of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème at the Wiener Staatsoper. Also included in his 2022/23 season is his long-awaited debut as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, first in concert with the Orchestre de chambre de Genève, followed by a staged production at Opernhaus Zürich. Also at the Opernhaus Zürich, he returns to the role of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. His season concludes with a new production of Roméo et Juliette at the Opéra national de Paris, with performances in June and July 2023. On the concert stage, Mr. Bernheim makes his house debut at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, performing Verdi’s Requiem, followed by a recital later in the season. He also performs recitals at the Opéra national de Bordeaux, the Saarländische Staatstheater, Oper Frankfurt, Prinzregententheater, as part of the Munich Opera Festival, and at the Salzburger Festspiele.
Previous highlights include the title role in Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Faust (title role) at the Opéra national de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, and at the Latvian National Opera, Rodolfo in La bohème at the Opéra national de Paris, Opernhaus Zürich, Royal Opera House (London), Staatsoper Berlin, and Wiener Staatsoper, Des Grieux in Manon at the Opéra national de Paris and Opéra national de Bordeaux, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opernhaus Zürich, Wiener Staatsoper and Salzburger Festspiele, Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto at the Bayerische Staatsoper and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Lensky in Eugene Onegin at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Alfredo in La traviata at the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House (London), Opernhaus Zürich, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper, Opéra national de Bordeaux and the Staatsoper Berlin, the title role of Werther at the Opéra national de Bordeaux, and Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Wiener Staatsoper.
On the concert stage, he has performed recitals at the Salzburg Festival, Opéra national de Bordeaux, La Grange au Lac, Opernhaus Zürich, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Philharmonie de Luxembourg, the Wiener Konzerthaus, Théâtre du Capitole, Gulbenkian Orchestra Main Hall, and L’instant Lyrique in Paris, and in Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elias, and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.
An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, his debut album was released in 2019 to outstanding reviews. “You believe you are hearing some of the well-known arias for the first time,” raved the Süddeutsche Zeitung, while Le Monde effused “ a sumptuous voice, fiery sensitivity, and poetic musicality.” His second solo album, Boulevard des Italiens, released in 2022, was also very well received, Oper Magazin claimed: “one can almost speak of a sensational album…This is a cleverly put together… even charming album by a tenor who is unrivaled in his field”. BBC Music Magazine also rated the album five stars, praising: “Bernheim, who has a voice of immense clarity and lyrical attractiveness, sings Puccini like a dream… Taking a stroll with him down the Boulevard des Italiens is a real treat.” Benjamin can also be heard on the complete recording of Faust, in the title role, released in 2019 on the Palazzetto Bru Zane label.
Benjamin Bernheim studied with Gary Magby at the Lausanne Conservatoire,and was a young artist and troupe member at the Opernhaus Zürich.
Described as having “all the makings of a star” in the Guardian and hailed as “a lyric tenor clearly going places” in Opera magazine, tenor Sam Furness has sung major roles for Scottish Opera, Garsington Opera and the Teatro Real, Madrid, always earning praise for his compelling acting and innate musicality.
In the 2022/23 season he sings Kudryas Katya Kabanova at Grand Théâtre de Genève followed by performances at National Theater Brno, Andres Wozzeck at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Tybalt Roméo et Juliette at Savonlinna Opera Festival. He also sings Dvořák Requiem with St Alban’s Bach Choir.
Recent operatic engagements include Kudryas Katya Kabanova (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma); Turiddu Cavalleria rusticana and Beppe Pagliacci (Åbo Svenska Teater, Turku); Pang Turandot (Grand Théâtre de Genève); Albert Gregor The Makropoulos Case (Opernhaus Zürich); White King/Mad Hatter Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Rodolphe Guillaume Tell (Theater an der Wien); Glass Maker Death in Venice (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Lensky Eugene Onegin (Garsington Opera, Royal Academy Opera and at the Ryedale Festival); Novice Billy Budd (Royal Opera House, Teatro Real Madrid and Teatro Municipal Santiago); Simpleton Boris Godunov (Royal Opera House); Vitek The Makropulos Case (Grand Théâtre de Genève, Vlaanderen Opera); Kavalier Cardillac (Vlaanderen Opera); title role Albert Herring (Opera di Firenze, Opera Holland Park and Théâtre du Capitôle Toulouse); Don José Carmen (Jyväskylä Opera); Tamino Die Zauberflöte (Turku Music Festival); Hoffmann Les contes d’Hoffmann (English Touring Opera); Jaquino Fidelio (Garsington Opera and Philharmonie de Paris); Peter Quint/Prologue The Turn of the Screw (Northern Ireland Opera); Števa Jenůfa (Scottish Opera); The Diary of One Who Disappeared (Shadwell Opera); and Flamand Capriccio, Baron Lummer Intermezzo, Gaspar in the world première of David Sawer’s The Skating Rink and Jack in the world première of Roxanna Panufnik’s Silver Birch (all for Garsington Opera).
On the concert platform he has recently sung Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Mass in C Minor with Hertfordshire Chorus in St Alban’s Cathedral, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
His oratorio and concert repertoire includes Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah and Samson, Britten’s St Nicholas and Les Illuminations, Verdi’s Requiem, and Dyson’s Canterbury Pilgrims.
Michael König is a heroic tenor who performs in the world’s most prestigious opera houses including Semperoper Dresden, Opéra National de Paris, Hamburg State Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Berlin State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Festival Bayreuth, Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Covent Garden London, Glyndebourne, Zurich, Oslo, Tokyo and La Scala, Milan. His voice and powerful stage presence is in demand for renowned roles such as Florestan (Fidelio), Max (Der Freischütz), Lohengrin, Siegmund (Die Walküre), Erik (Der Fliegende Holländer), Kaiser (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), Jim Mahoney (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), Andrey Khovansky (Khovanshchina), Grigory/The Pretender (Boris Godunov), and Sergey (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) amongst others.
Michael made his debut at La Scala in 2017 as Max in Der Freischütz. Recently he could be heard in a new production of Lohengrin at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Florestan (Fidelio) in Luxembourg and Stuttgart, Ariadne auf Naxos in Lausanne and at La Scala in Milan, Jim Mahoney at the Korea National Opera in Seoul, Siegmund (Die Walküre) at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse as well as in Amsterdam. As a concert performer he sang Beethoven’s 9th symphony at La Scala and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel in Los Angeles and on tour in Washington, London and Paris.
Michael is also in high demand on the concert stage. His extensive repertoire includes the tenor parts in Beethoven’s 9th symphony and Missa solemnis, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Das Klagende Lied and the 8th symphony and he has performed with top orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the LA Philharmonic , the BR and SWR Symphony Orchestras and the San Francisco Symphony.
He has worked with celebrated conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Christian Thielemann, Andris Nelsons, Daniele Gatti, Seji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Jurowski, Gennadi Rozhdesventsky, Hartmut Hänchen, Sebastian Weigle, Teodor Currentzis and Christoph von Dohnányi.
Michael König was born in Mutlangen, Germany and began his singing career as a member of the Schwäbisch Gmünd St. Michael’s boys’ choir. He studied music at the Mannheim Conservatory with Rudolf Piernay. His early engagements included Jeník (The Bartered Bride) for Glyndebourne Festival, Narraboth (Salome) and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) in Frankfurt and Lensky (Eugene Onegin) in Baden – Baden, Basel and Paris.
When he is not touring, Michael lives with his family in Haida Gwaii, BC Canada.
Future projects include a concert performance of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck (Tambourmajor) at the Verbier Festival as well as Die Walküre and Die Frau ohne Schatten in Stuttgart and again Die Walküre at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Of Michael Fabiano’s debut as Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera, The Sunday Times in London wrote: “I can’t think of a Lensky at Covent Garden who has held the audience so spellbound in 40 years of Onegin-going… a glorious debut.” The recipient of the 2014 Beverly Sills Artist Award and the 2014 Richard Tucker Award, Mr. Fabiano is the first singer to win both awards in the same year, and is considered one of the greatest tenors in the world today.
Mr. Fabiano is the recipient of Australia’s prestigious Helpmann Award in the “Best Male Performance in an Opera” category, for his portrayal of the title role in Gounod’s Faust with Opera Australia. He is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild Artists’ Council and one of the founders of ArtSmart, a non-profit organization that provides free voice and instrumental lessons to students in public schools in under-served neighborhoods within the U.S., and the Chief Strategy Officer for Resonance, a social commerce platform that
Michał Prószyński is a member of Bühnen Bern’s opera ensemble, as part of which he made his debuts as Pelléas in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Mime in Wagner’s Das Rheingold. Born in Gdów, the Polish tenor studied at Hanover Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien with Marek Rzepka, who already supervised him at the Akademia Muzyczna im. Krzysztofa Pendereckiego w Krakowie. Prior to this, he studied classical guitar at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. Michał made his stage debut in 2015 singing the leading role of Antonio in Moniuszko’s Nocleg w Apeninach and, as a guest at Staatstheater Braunschweig between 2018 and 2020, performed Alfred in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen. A dedicated Lied singer, he performed at the Second Voice and Piano Chamber Music Festival in Kraków and at the Eighth Festival of Polish Music with the Kraków Philharmonic. Michał was a finalist in the Robert Schumann Singing Competition in 2021.
Tenor Michael Bell had his first national competitive success when, in 2013, he won Ireland’s Catherine Judge Memorial Prize. He went on to read Music at Cambridge whilst singing with the world-famous Choir of St. John’s College with whom he toured and recorded extensively, most memorably as the Tenor soloist for the Choir’s recording of Janáček’s Otčenás, a performance described as “heroic” in a review by Nicholas Kerrison. Concurrent with his work with the Choir he appeared on the opera stage in roles as varied as Candide, Ferrando, Lysander and Tom Rakewell. In the sphere of contemporary opera he has recorded sketches of Gareth Glyn’s opera Wythnos yng Chymru Fydd for Welsh television channel S4C and created the roles of Gabelkhover and the Schoolmaster in Tim Watts’ Kepler’s Trial at its premiere at the V & A Museum in November 2017. Equally at home as a recitalist, he was a Scholar on Pembroke College Cambridge’s Lieder Scheme for the academic year 2017/2018 and was a prizewinner at the Camerata Ireland Academy in August 2018. He began studies with Russell Smythe at the Royal College of Music in September 2018 as a Big Give Scholar. He is an alumnus of the 2019 Verbier Festival Academy.
Welsh Tenor, Dafydd Jones, made his international debut in 2022/23 season as Clotarco in Haydn’s Armida for the Bregenzer Festspiele. Busy making a name for himself on the operatic stage, he also recently made his debut in the Title Role of Albert Herring for Opera North. Other operatic roles include Earl Tolloller (cover) in Iolanthe for English National Opera, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (OPRA Cymru) and Pastore in L’Orfeo (Garsington Opera). Recently, Dafydd won the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize in the Kathleen Ferrier Competition at the Wigmore Hall and was awarded the Prix Thierry Mermod on the 2019 Atelier Lyrique at the Verbier Festival. He was member of the 2023 Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange programme where he worked with Dame Felicity Lott and François Le Roux. Dafydd’s just completed his first year at the Royal College of Music International Opera Studio where he studies with Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle.
The tenor Sungho Kim was born in Gwangmyeong (South Korea) tenor Sungho Kim studied singing at the National University of Art in Korea with Kwangsun Song and at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin with Ewa Wolak, Julia Varady Master classes with the professors, Deborah Polaski, Bejun Metha, Malcolm Martineau, Brigitte Fassbaender. He received numerous awards both in his home country and internationally, such as a 1st prize at the Korea National Singing Competition in Seoul and at the International Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna 2018. In the 2018/19 season, Sungho Kim became a member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera, where he u. a. conducted by Kent Nagano Scaramuccio (Ariadne on Naxos), Czekalisky (Pikowaja dama) and Capitano dei Balestrieri (Simon Boccanegra) alongside Plácido Domingo and Ks. Kwangchul Youn. In 2020/21 he will join the Dortmund Opera as a new member of the ensemble.
The German tenor Gerhard Siegel began his musical career as an instrumentalist and composer. After completing his voice training with Liselotte Becker-Egner at the Augsburg Conservatory, he became an ensemble member of the Stadttheater Trier. Here the stage version of Heinrich Heine’s “Deutschland – ein Wintermärchen”, for which he composed the music, had its world premier. In 1995 Gerhard Siegel was the winner at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna. After an engagement as dramatic and lyric tenor at the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau and guest performances in Germany, Bulgaria, Holland and Spain, he was engaged in Augsburg in 1997.
In 1998 he debuted at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. From 1999 to 2006 he was under contract at the Nuremberg Theater, where he was primarily able to expand his repertoire in the field of dramatic and heroic tenor. Here he sang Parsifal, Bacchus, Herodes, Florestan, Laca (“Jenufa“) and Sergej (“Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District”), but also Mephistopheles (“Doctor Faust” by Busoni), Tom Rakewell and Alfredo. He won special acclaim for his debut as Stolzing (“Meistersinger”) and in the title role of “Siegfried”.
As a freelance singer since 2006, Gerhard Siegel has made guest appearances as Max in the new production of Weber’s “Freischütz” at the Comic Opera Berlin, in Hindemith’s “Nusch-Nuschi” under Gerd Albrecht and as Max in “Jonny spielt auf” in Cologne, as Florestan at the Granada Festival, as Weill’s “Protagonist” at the Bregenz Festival, as Herodes at the Opéra Montpellier and at the Vienna State Opera, as Hauptmann (“Wozzeck”) at Teatro Real Madrid, at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, at Covent Garden London and at the Met New York, in Zemlinsky’s “Traumgörge” at the Deutschen Oper Berlin and as Sellem in “The Rake’s Progress” at the Theater an der Wien, “Lulu” in Geneva and Madrid, Schuiskij in „Boris Godunow“ in Munich .A central role in his repertoire today is Mime in “Rheingold” and “Siegfried”. He sang the part on the occasion of his debuts at the Metropolitan Opera New York, at the Bayreuth Festival and at the Covent Garden in London, in the “Ring” directed by Jeffrey Tate at the Cologne Opera, and also at Covent Garden London and under Jun Markel in Tokio.
Another artistic highlight was Schönberg’s “Gurrelieder” (Klaus-Narr) on a tour with Michael Gielen and the SWR Symphony Orchestra and his debut with “Tristan and Isolde” and “Mahagonny” in Augsburg.
After Mime in “Rhinegold” and “Siegfried” in Barcelona, Dresden, New York and Tokyo, “Lulu” in Amsterdam, “Wozzeck” (Captain) in Chicago and Salzburg (Festival), Prince Schuiskij in “Boris Godunow” in Munich, “Herod” at the Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera House, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and at the Verbier Festival conducted by Charles Dutoit and Midas in “The Love of Danae” at the Salzburg Festival, 2017 still has in store the Witch at the Metropolitan Opera New York.
The next years will see the “Ring” in Dresden and “Salome” at the Berlin State Opera, “Tristan” in Cleveland and song recitals in New York, Staunton/Virginia and Texas. “Salome” in Budapest, the “Ring” as well as the Witch in London. Also planned: “Wozzeck” in New York, the “Ring” in Paris, “Le Grand Macabre” in Dresden.
British tenor Ian Bostridge’s acclaimed career across the opera, concert and chamber domains takes him to the world’s most prominent halls and festivals. Past residencies include with the Wiener Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall New York, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and London’s Wigmore Hall, while his 2018/19 season Artistic Residency with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra was the first of its kind for the ensemble. Operatic appearances have included Aschenbach (Death in Venice) for the Deutsche Oper and Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw) for Teatro alla Scala. 2021/22 season highlights include European tours with Europa Galante of Monteverdi’s Orfeo and The Seasons with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, the release of his latest album on the Pentatone label, and collaborations with pianists Lars Vogt, Sir Antonio Pappano, Angela Hewitt and long-standing duo partner, Julius Drake.