The baritone comes from England and studied vocal music, piano and cello both there and in Vienna. Guest engagements have taken him to Paris, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lille and Lisbon as well as the Edinburgh Festival, the Covent Garden Festival in London, the Holland Festival, Citè de la musique with IRCAM and the Musica Strassburg festival. He made his debut at La Scala, Milan in 2011 as Valmont in the world premiere of the two person piece «Quartett» by Luca Francesconi. He has worked with conductors including Christoph von Dohnanyi, Dennis Russell Davies, Susanna Mälkki, ­Kazushi Ono and directors such as Christoph Loy and Fura dels Baus. As an ensemble member at Konzert Theater Berne, Robin Adams could be seen on stage as Conte in «Le nozze di Figaro», Ford in «Falstaff», Figaro in «Il barbiere di Siviglia», Eisenstein in «Die Fledermaus», Belcore in «L’elisir d’amore», Faninal in «Der Rosenkavalier», Demetrius in «A Midsummer Night’s Dream», Marcello in «La bohème», Eugen Onegin, Don Giovanni, Frank/Fritz in «Die tote Stadt», Don Pizarro in «Fidelio», Dandini in «La Cenerentola», Macbeth, Giorgio Germont in «La traviata» and Captain Balstrode in «Peter Grimes» as well as in the cross-over evenings «Robin & Friends». His plans include the title role in Alban Berg’s «Wozzeck» at Theater Augsburg, «Quartett» at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and a world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 2015. He also performs as a jazz pianist and has presented a series of solo programmes together with the Swiss rapper Kutti MC.

Alin Anca was born in Romania and trained as a singer at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca. While still a student he made his first appearances at the Opera Nationala Romana in Cluj. These included Colline («La Bohème»), the Grand Inquisitor («Don Carlo») and the title role in «Don Giovanni». His repertoire also includes roles such as Figaro («Le nozze di Figaro»), Banco («Macbeth»), Angelotti («Tosca»), Panthée («Les Troyens»), Bottom («A Midsummer Nightʼs Dream») and Raimondo («Lucia di Lammermoor»). Alin Anca won a scholarship to attend the opera studio of the Staatsoper Berlin from 2011 to 2013 and subsequently joined the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera, where he performed in «Madama Butterfly», «Die Zauberflöte» and «Salome». Further engagements have taken him to Bucharest, Innsbruck, Zurich, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest.

The Armenian baritone Gurgen Baveyan was born in 1986. After studying at the Komitas Conservatoire in Yerevan he continued his training with Hedwig Fassbender at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. He has won numerous awards, including the 2010 «Annual Prize for Young Singers» awarded by the Armenian President and a scholarship from the arteMusica Foundation. In 2018 he was nominated as «Emerging Artist of the Year» in the critics’ poll conducted by Opernwelt magazine. From 2008 to 2013 Gurgen Baveyan was an ensemble member of the Armenian National Opera in Yerevan and from 2014 to 2016 a member of the opera studio at Frankfurt Opera, where he appeared in roles including Count Almaviva in «Le nozze di Figaro» and in the world premiere of Lior Navok’s «An unserem Fluss». Further engagements have taken Gurgen Baveyan to venues such as the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. Gurgen Baveyan has been an ensemble member at Theater Basel since the 2019/2020 season and can be seen here as Figaro in «Il barbiere di Siviglia», as Schaunard in «La Bohème» and in «Le vin herbé».

The English soprano Emma Bell is a winner of the prestigious «Kathleen Ferrier Award» and began her career singing Mozart’s female leads. In recent years she has increasingly devoted herself to the dramatic repertoire with roles by Wagner and Beethoven. She made her debut in 2016 as Eva («Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg») at the Bayerische Staatsoper and as Elisabeth («Tannhäuser») at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She has also sung Madame Lidoine («Dialogues des Carmélites») at the Hamburg State Opera and Leonore («Fidelio») at Cologne Opera. Further engagements have taken the soprano to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Theater an der Wien, the Metropolitan Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, the Staatsoper Berlin and English National Opera, where she appeared most recently in Britten’s «War Requiem». She is an enthusiastic concert singer and Lied recitalist whose repertoire includes Wagner’s «Wesendonc Lieder» as well as Strauss’ «Four Last Songs» and the soprano parts in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Beethoven’s «Missa Solemnis» and Rossini’s «Stabat Mater».

The English tenor Michael Bennett was educated at Durham University and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Michael Bennett first came to public attention in 2011 for his interpretation of the Madwoman in Britten’s «Curlew River» at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. He has also appeared there as Don Curzio («Le nozze di Figaro») and as Mercurio / First Soldier in «L’incoronazione di Poppea». Other career highlights include roles such as Arlecchino in Luca Mosca’s «Signor Goldoni» at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Peter Quint («The Turn of the Screw») at the Opéra en Île-de-France and the Israeli Opera Tel-Aviv-Yafo and Witch/Sailor in Sasha Waltz’ production of «Dido and Aenas» at the Staatsoper Berlin as well as guest roles at Leipzig Opera, Opéra National de Lyon, Garsington Opera, the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and the Musica Festival in Strasbourg.

The Russian mezzo soprano first trained in the vocal programme at the State Conservatoire in Stavropol and then at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow. From 2015 to 2017 she was a member of the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow Youth Opera Program, where she completed her training with Prof. Dmitry Vdovin and others. Vasilisa Berzhanskaya has won prizes at the Muslim Magomaev International Vocalists Contest, the tv channel Cultura’s Grand Opera Competition, the Russian National Music Competition and the Elena Obraztsova International Chamber Music Competition. Her most recent engagements include. Rosina («Il barbiere di Siviglia»), Principessa Melibea («Il viaggio a Reims»), Lola («Cavalleria rusticana») and Sonjetka («Lady Macbeth von Mzensk») at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Despina («Cosi fan tutte») at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and appearances at the Singapore International Festival of Music, Carnegie Hall New York and the Salzburg Festival. In 2017/2018 Vasilisa Berzhanskaya will sing the part of Rosina («Il barbiere di Siviglia») at the Mikhailovsky Theatre St. Petersburg. She is an ensemble member at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

The actress Audrey Bonnet studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris and then joined the studio of the Comédie française. The directors she has worked with include Robert Wilson, Luc Bondy, Jean Christophe Saïs, Roland Auzet, Oriza Hirata and Yves-Noël Ginod. Audrey has undertaken roles in the works of William Shakespeare, Bernard-Marie Koltès, Paul Claudel, Maurice Maeterlinck, Dante Alighieri and Euripides. With Compagnie des petits champs she has performed Pierre Carlet de Marivaux, Federico García Lorca and Jean-Luc Lagarce. She also enjoys a long-term collaboration with the writer and director Pascal Rambert, regularly appearing in the world premieres of his works, most recently in «Architecture» (Festival d’Avignon 2019). Audrey Bonnet is also a highly sought-after film actress who has worked with directors such as Olivier Assayas («Personal Shopper»), Romain Kronenberg («Ad Astra»), Olivier Torres («White Line»), Guillaume Nicolux («The End»), Léonor Serraille («Bonjour Paris») and Pierre Schoeller («One Nation, One King»).

Irish soprano Sarah Brady graduated in Vocal Studies from the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin. She has already performed with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ National Concert Orchestra in Ireland. As part of a singing project with the Juilliard School New York the soprano has also made appearances in both London and New York. She has also sung in New York and Estonia on a cultural exchange programme for the Ireland US Council. On the operatic stage her roles have so far included; Pamina («The Magic Flute»), Sicle («L’Ormindo»), Novice («Sour Angelica») as well as the title role in the world premiere of «Vampirella». In 2017 Sarah Brady was a finalist in the Mozart Singing Competition and she is a winner of the prestigious RDS Music Bursary. She has performed a range of oratorios from Bach to Britten. Sarah Brady was a member of the opera studio OperAvenir at Theater Basel for the seasons 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, singing the roles of Celia («Lucio Silla») and Lilith («Der Goldkäfer»). Since the season 2019/2020 she is a member of the ensemble at the Theater Basel and performes in «Al gran sole carico d’amore», «La Bohème» and «Le nozze di Figaro».

After training as a singer, the tenor Karl-Heinz Brandt was initially engaged by Stadttheater Aachen and the Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen before becoming a company member at Theater Basel in 1998. Guest performances have taken him to the state theatres in Karlsruhe, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Nuremburg and Hanover as well as to the Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin and the Opéra de la Bastille in Paris. Karl-Heinz Brandt has worked with directors including Herbert Wernicke, Christoph Nel, Peter Konwitschny, Philipp Stölzl and Calixto Bieito. In Christoph Marthaler’s hit production «Meine faire Dame» he has performed at the Théâtre National de L’Odéon and both the Avignon and Edinburgh Festivals. He is a sought-after concert and oratorio singer who has sung at the Alte Oper Frankfurt with the baroque orchestra «La Stagione Frankfurt» under Michael Schneider, at the Tonhalle in both Zurich and Düsseldorf, at the Philharmonie in both Cologne and Berlin, at the Palais de la Musique in Strasbourg with the Stuttgart Chamber Choir and Baroque Orchestra under Frieder Bernius, in Bamberg both with the Bamberger Symphoniker under Hans Zender and in Mozart’s «Requiem» as a memorial concert for the conductor Sinopoli who died in 2001. At Theater Basel Karl-Heinz Brandt has appeared in productions including: «Don Carlos», «L'Orfeo», «Sekretärinnen», «Lulu», «From the House of the Dead», «Carmina Burana», «Wozzeck» and «Katja Kabanova». He was seen most recently in the world premiere «Anschlag» by Michael Wertmüller (director: Georges Delnon), a co-production with the Lucerne Festival, which was also invited to the MaerzMusik Festival in Berlin.

The young Brazilian male soprano Bruno de Sá completed his studies at the University of São Carlos in 2013. He made his debut at the SESC Belenzinho Cultural Centre in São Paolo in Kurt Weill’s «Der Jasager». Subsequent engagements took him to the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, the Teatro L’Occitane in Trancoso and the Teatro São Pedro, where his roles included Sesto in «La clemenza di Tito» and the First Lady in «The Magic Flute». Bruno de Sá has won prizes at the 14th Maria Callas Competition in São Paulo, the 2nd Manhattan International Music Competition and the 19th Concorso Spiros Agiris in Sarzana. Bruno de Sá made his European debut in 2016 as a soloist in Gioachino Rossini’s «Petite messe solennelle» and Georg Friedrich Handel’s «Messiah» with Chorakademie Lübeck. He subsequently performed at the Musikfestspiele Potsdam and Musica Bayreuth, where he took over the part of Aci in Giovanni Bononcini’s «Polifemo». Bruno de Sá became a member of the opera studio OperAvenir at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season and can be seen in «Andersens Erzählungen» and «Le nozze di Figaro».

Jasmin Etezadzadeh studied acting and singing and was a member of the Young Ensemble at Staatstheater Mainz. She was subsequently engaged at the state theatres in Schwerin, Oldenburg and Mainz, at Nationaltheater Mannheim, Staatsoperette Dresden, Frankfurt Opera, Theater Bremen, Bühnen Halle, Theater Magdeburg, Opéra de Reims and the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau. Her repertoire extends from Donna Elvira in «Don Giovanni» through Miss Quickly in «Falstaff» and the great Neapolitan Rossini operas to character roles such as Leokadja Begbick in «Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny». Jasmin Etezadzadeh has also been involved in numerous world premieres, including «22,13» by Marc André, presented at the Munich Biennale and «Zarathustra» by Franz Hummel at Theater Regensburg. She has worked with celebrated conductors and directors including David Parry, Ari Rasilainen, Felice Venanzoni, Lydia Steier, Peer Boysen, Georges Delnon and Anouk Nicklisch. Jamin Etezadzadeh joined the ensemble at Theater Basel at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season and can be seen in «Andersens Erzählungen», as Marcellina in «Le nozze di Figaro», in «Peter Grimes» and «Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher».

The Israeli alto Noa Frenkel is highly sought-after as an interpreter of contemporary music and has performed in numerous world premieres. Her most recent engagements include a North American tour with Ensemble Variances, the world premiere of Thierry Pécou’s «Healing» at the Opéra de Rouen, Paul Ben-Haim’s «Ben Hadasim» with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Chaya Czernowin’s «Infinite Now» at Vlaamse Opera and Nationaltheater Mannheim and Hans Zender’s «Don Quijote de la Mancha» with Klangforum Heidelberg at the Frankfurt LAB.

She works regularly with well-known ensembles such as the Ensemble Modern, the Schönberg Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble intercontemporain, MusikFabrik,  Ensemble Variances, the Israeli Contemporary Players and the Experimental Studio Freiburg (SWR). Future projects include the world premieres of «Heart Chamber» by Chaya Czernowin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Thierry Pecou’s «Until the Lions» at the Opéra national du Rhin and concerts at the Munich Biennale and with the Ensemble intercontemporain at the Festival d’Automne in Paris.

The Italian tenor Davide Giusti studied at the «G. B. Pergolesi» Music Conservatoire in Fermo and completed his training with Renata Scotto, Elisabetta Lombardi and Alberto Zedda. He has won prizes at numerous international singing competitions including second prizes at both the «Operalia» competition in 2017 and the «Renata Tebaldi» competition. The tenor’s repertoire includes roles such as Alfredo Germont («La traviata»), Rodolfo («La Bohème»), Nemorino («L’elisir d’amore») and Rinuccio («Gianni Schicchi»). Davide Giusti has so far made guest appearances at the opera houses in Rome, Liège, Perm, Dortmund, Tel Aviv, Montpellier and Avignon. Davide Giusti has worked on both operas and in the concert hall with conductors such as Teodor Currentzis, Fabio Biondi and Kent Nagano.  During the 2019/2020 season at Theater Basel Davide Giusti can be seen as Rodolfo in «La Bohème».

The American soprano Kali Hardwick completed her vocal studies at the Royal Academy of Music. In the course of her studies she prepared roles such Leïla («Les pêcheurs des perles») and Sophie («Der Rosenkavalier»). Kali Hardwick made her debut as Countess Almaviva («Le nozze di Figaro») at the Dartington International Summer Festival and then sang Partenope in Handel’s eponymous opera for Hampstead Garden Opera. As an oratorio singer Kali Hardwick has performed parts in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s «Great Mass in C-minor», Joseph Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Antonio Vivaldi’s «Gloria» and Carl Orff’s «Carmina Burana». She has been awarded numerous prizes and scholarships, for example by the Chadlington Festival Singing Competition, California Women’s Chorus and the New Century Singers. In 2017 Kali Hardwick came second in The American Prize’s Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award. Kali Hardwick is a member of the opera studio OperAvenir during the 2019/2020 season and can be seen in productions including «Il barbiere di Siviglia», «Schellen-Ursli», «Le nozze di Figaro», «Peter Grimes» and «Le vin herbé».

The bass baritone Antoin Herrera-Lopez Kessel was born in 1987 in Havana, Cuba. He received his bachelor’s degree in Contemporary Dance from the local Academy of Arts and subsequently worked as a choreographer at the National School of Rhythmic Gymnastics. At the same time he also studied Singing and Engineering. He moved to France in 2011, where he continued his studies at the Besançon Conservatoire and at the National Conservatoire in Lyon. He participated in the ENOA artist development programme, was invited to the Mozart Residency at the Festival d’Aix en Provence in 2016 and performed in the world premiere of Francesco Filidei’s opera «Giordano Bruno» with the Ensemble Intercontemporain. At the 2018 Venice Biennale Antoin Herrera-Lopez Kessel was seen in the world premiere of the opera «Push» by Alvise Zambon. Since 2019 he has been part of the emerging artists’ programme Equilibrium (directed by Barbara Hannigan) with whom he has appeared at festivals in Brussels, California and Aldeburgh. Antoin Herrera Lopez Kessel joined the ensemble of Theater Basel at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season and can be seen in the title role in «Le nozze di Figaro», as Basilio in «Il barbiere di Siviglia» and in «Al gran sole carico d’amore».

Sara Hershkowitz was born in Los Angeles. Singing engagements have taken her to such leading stages as the New Israeli Opera, New York City Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Theater an der Wien, Opéra national de Lorraine, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Cité de la musique.

As an ensemble member at Theater Bremen her roles included Sophie («Der Rosenkavalier», Gretel («Hänsel und Gretel»), Adele («Die Fledermaus»), Konstanze («Die Entführung aus dem Serail»), Arminda («La finta giardiniera»), Donna Anna («Don Giovanni») and Zaïde («Zaïde/Adama»). She was nominated as Singer of the Year in the magazine Opernwelt for her performances as Zaïde and Donna Anna.

Her repertoire ranges from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (including the Queen of the Night in «Die Zauberflöte») through Richard Strauss (such as Zerbinetta in «Ariadne auf Naxos») to contemporary  works (for example Venus/Gepopo in Ligeti’s «Le Grand Macabre», the Governess in Britten’s «The Turn of the Screw», Autonoe in Henze’s «Die Bassariden» and John Cage’s «Europeras»).

The baritone Dmytro Kalmuchyn was born in the Ukraine in 1993. He studied at the Music Academy in Lviv (Lemberg) and sang at its Academy Theatre in roles such as Belcore in Gaetano Donizetti’s «L’elisir d’amore», Uberto in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s «La serva padrona» and Don Giovanni in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s «Don Giovanni». He has won prizes at the 3rd Ukrainan Teodor Teren Yuskiv Competition for Young Singers in 2010, the international «XXI Century Art» competition, Vorzel 2014 and the 7^th Internationalen Mirjam Helin Competition in Helsinki. From 2016 to 2018 he was a member of the International Opera Studio at Opernhaus Zürich, where he could be heard as the Clock/Cat in «L’enfant et les sortilèges» and also in «Don Carlo», «Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk», «Salome», «La fanciulla del West» nd «Lohengrin». Dmitro Kalmuchyn is a member of the opera studio OperAvenir at Theater Basel during the 2019/2020 season and will take roles in «Il barbiere di Siviglia» and «Schellen-Ursli».

The Australian bass Paull-Anthony Keightley studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He made his stage debut for West Australia Opera as Pinellino in «Gianni Schicchi» in 2016 and also appeared there as Sciarrone in «Tosca» in 2017. In 2017 he also won the Opera Foundation for Young Australians' Deutsche Oper Berlin Award, received the Richard Bonynge Award as part of the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award and was a finalist for both the Opera Foundation for Young Australians' Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship and the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition. Paull-Anthony Keightley was an ensemble member at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the 2018/2019 season, where he took over roles in pieces including «La Traviata», «Nabucco» and «Die Zauberflöte». Paull-Anthony Keightley is a member of the opera studio OperAvenir at Theater Basel in the 2019/2020 season and will perform in «Al gran sole carico d’amore», as Colline in «La Bohème» and in both «Le vin herbé» and «Jeanne d’Arc».

The Australian tenor Alasdair Kent trained as a singer at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. After graduation he became a member of the Merola Opera Program at Opera Philadelphia and the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School. The tenor has been a prize-winner in numerous singing competitions (including the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Foundation Bel Canto Award) and won the audience award at the Academy of Vocal Arts’ Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. He has also been awarded one of Australia’s most prestigious artistic prizes, the «Marten Bequest». He has appeared in roles including Count Almaviva («Il barbiere di Siviglia»), Don Ottavio («Don Giovanni»), Tamino («Die Zauberflöte») and Rinuccio («Gianni Schicchi»). Engagements have taken him to the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, the State Opera in Budapest, the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, Opéra de Toulon, Opera Philadelphia, Portland Opera, the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli and Dallas Opera. In the 2019/2020 season at Theater Basel Alasdair Kent can be seen as Count Almaviva in «Il barbiere di Siviglia».

The German soprano Stefanie Knorr initially graduated in Music in Education at the Freiburg im Breisgau Academy of Music, specialising in the piano. At the same time she trained as a teacher of Mathematics at the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, graduating in 2015. From 2014 to 2019 the soprano trained as a singer with Marcel Boone at Basel Academy of Music, gaining distinctions in both her Masters in Music Pedagogy and Masters in Musical Performance. Master courses with Margreet Honig, Valérie Guillorit, Ralf Gothóni and Christine Schäfer supplemented her studies. She also won a scholarship from the festival LIEDBasel 2019, taking part in master courses with Graham Johnson and Benjamin Appl. In 2019 Stefanie Knorr won 2^nd Prize in the Stiftung Basler Orchester Gesellschaft competition and a study prize at the Migros-Kulturprozent Singing Competition.

The American soprano Rainelle Krause trained as a singer at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana and has been a prize-winner in numerous competitions, including the Fielder Grant Competition, the Orpheus Competition and Texas Camerata's Baroque Aria Competition. Her repertoire contains roles including the Queen of the Night («Die Zauberflöte»), Blonde («Die Entführung aus dem Serail»), Monica («The Medium»), Belinda («Dido and Aeneas»), Zerlina («Don Giovanni») and Galatea («Acis y Galatea»). Engagements have taken her to houses such as the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dallas Opera, the New Hampshire Music Festival, Painted Sky Opera, Opera Piccola of San Antonio, Opera for the Young’s, the Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater and Opera Nova Costa Rica.

Young Slovenian baritone Domen Križaj is a member of the opera studio OperAvenir 2018/2019 performing Sharpless in «Madama Butterfly», Kaiser Overall in Ullmann's «Der Kaiser von Atlantis», Cold Genie and Grimblad in Purcell's «King Arthur» and Doctor in Debussy's «Pélleas et Mélisande» at the Theater Basel. Previous year he performed as Barone Douphol in «La Traviata», Pfleger in «Elektra», Sam in Bernstein’s «Trouble in Tahiti» and Albert in Dai Fujikura’s new opera «Der Goldkäfer». In 2016 he sang the title role of Eugene Onegin with the Zomeropera Alden Binsen festival in Belgium and Albert in «Werther» at the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka. He has performed Papageno in «Die Zauberflöte» for children in Celje and the role of Jesus in Christoph Ehrenfellner’s opera «Judas» with Festival Retz. He is an active concert singer and has sung with orchestras such as Wiener Philharmoniker, Camerata Salzburg, ORF and as a lied singer performed a.o. Schubert’s Winterreise.

Domen Križaj obtained his Master’s degree from the Academy of Music Ljubljana in 2017 after completing medical studies. He won 1st prize and the Song Prize at the Ada Sari Competition 2017, 1st prize at the Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition, 1st prize at the Petar Konjovic Competition and three times 1st prize at the Competition of young Slovenian musicians (TEMSIG), 2nd prize at the Otto Edelmann Competition, 3rd prize at the Zinka Milanov Competition and was a finalist of the Belvedere Competition 2015. In Salzburg he was a prize winner of the International Music Academy 2012 and the year after participated in the Young singers’ project singing Deputati Fiamminghi in Don Carlo and Englischer Hauptmann in Braunfels’ Jeanne D’Arc at the Salzburg Festival. He performed Mengotto in Piccinni’s La Cecchina in a coproduction of the Slovenian Chamber Musical Theatre and the Academy of Music Ljubljana. He was invited to participate in the TV show Junge Opernstars 2016 on the German channel SWR.

The German soprano Cathrin Lange trained as a singer at the Folkwang University of the Arts. After a full-time engagement at Theater Augsburg she is now an ensemble member at Staatstheater Darmstadt. Her roles there have Adina («L’elisir d’amore»), Mélisande («Pelléas et Mélisande»), Gilda («Rigoletto»), Susanna («Le nozze di Figaro») and Adele («Die Fledermaus»). Guest engagements have so far taken her to Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Aalto Theater Essen, Oper Graz and the Komische Oper Berlin.

Denis Lavant trained as an actor at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique and has since worked with numerous distinguished directors such as Antoine Vitez, Pierre Pradinas, Hans Peter Closs, Bernard Sobel and Dan Jemmet. He recently appeared in productions by Sophie Kandaouroff (Philippe Rahmy’s «Monarques» at Théâtre 2.21 in Lausanne), Jacques Osinski (Samuel Beckett’s «Worstward Ho» at the Festival d’Avignon), and Aurore Fattier (Thomas Bernhard’s «Elisabeth II» at Théâtre de Namur).

Denis Lavant is also a successful film actor. He has been a long-term collaborator of Leos Carax («Boy Meets Girl» 1983, «Holy Motors» 2012) and has also worked with Patrice Chéreau, Diane Kurys, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Claude Lelouch, Claire Denis, Harmony Korin, Arnaud des Palières, Wolfgang Becker and the Larrieu brothers. Denis Lavant was seen most recently in Pierre Schoeller’s «One Nation, One King», Jean-François Richet’s «The Emperor of Paris» and Emily Atef’s «3 Days in Quiberon» (Nominated for the Golden Bear 2018).

South Korean-born tenor Hyunjai Marco Lee studied at the Korea National University of Art and appeared during this time at the Korean National Opera in Seoul Arts Center in roles including Don Ottavio («Don Giovanni») and Ruiz («Il trovatore»). The young tenor has also given stage performances in Seoul as Ferrando («Così fan tutte») and Ernesto («Don Pasquale»).

Hyunjai Marco Lee has won prizes in both national and international singing competitions, including Third Prize at the Competizione dell’Opera 2016, the Korean National Opera’s singing competition and First Prize at the signing competition in Daegu. Hyunjai Marco Lee was a participant in the Young Singers Project at the 2018 Salzburg Festival and could be heard performing as Tamino in «The Magic Flute for Children». Hyunjai Marco Lee has been a member of Theater Basel’s opera studio OperAvenir since the beginning of the 2018/19 season.

The American-born baritone Thomas Lehman graduated from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, New York. He made his opera debut as Guglielmo in «Cosí fan tutte» with Delaware Valley Opera in 2010. Lehman won First Prize and the Lynne Clarke Vocal Prize at the 2010 Friends of Eastman Opera Competition, First Prize in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition, an Encouragement Award at the MONC Great Lakes Auditions in 2013 and the Grand Prize in the Orpheus Competition in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lehman has been an ensemble member at the Deutsche Oper Berlin since the 2014/15 season. Here his roles have included the title role in «Il Barbiere di Siviglia», Belcore in «L´Elisir d´Amore», Dancairo in «Carmen», Valentin in «Faust», Count Almaviva in «Le Nozze di Figaro», Pantalon in «L'amour des trois oranges», Herrufer in «Lohengrin», Dr. Falke in «Die Fledermaus», Schaunard in «La Bohème» and Mathisen in «Le Prophète» as well as Guiglielmo in «Cosí fan tutte». Thomas Lehman made his debut as Silvio in «Pagliacci» at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (Lisbon) in the spring of 2017. He made a guest appearance at the Ravello Festival in the summer of 2018 with the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under Donald Runnicles. The programme included Wagner’s «O du mein holder Abendstern» from Tannhäuser.

During the 2018/19 season he sang Marchese d´Obigny in «La Traviata», Dr. Falke in «Die Fledermaus», Maggiordomo/Dumas in «Andrea Chénier», Harasta in «The Cunning Little Vixen», als Dancaire in «Carmen», Marullo in «Rigoletto», Crébillon in «La Rondine» and Horatio in «Hamlet». He also made guest appearances as Hindley Earnshaw in «Wuthering Heights» at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy.

The Italian soprano Valentina Mastrangelo trained as a singer at the Conservatorio di Musica «Giuseppe Martucci» in Salerno and completed master courses with Renata Scotto, Katia Ricciarelli and Donata D’Annunzio Lombardi. The young soprano made her opera debut as Scintilla in Pergolesi’s «La contadina astuta» and as Serafina in Donizetti’s «Il campanello». As the winner of the «Spazio Musica» competition in Orvieto, Valentina Mastrangelo made her debut at the Teatro Mancinelli in Orvieto as Musetta («La Bohème») in 2014. She has also sung this role at the Teatro Regio in Turin. She made her debut at the Dubai Opera as Susanna («Le nozze di Figaro»). Valentina Mastrangelo has subsequently appeared as Donna Anna («Don Giovanni») in Trieste, as Tatyana («Eugene Onegin») in Genoa and as Pamina («Die Zauberflöte») in Salerno. Future engagements will take her to the opera houses of Naples, Palermo and Malta. During the 2019/2020 season at Theater Basel Valentina Mastrangelo can be seen in the role of Musetta in «La Bohème».

Annelie Sophie Müller was born in Freiburg and trained as a singer in Stuttgart and as a soloist with Professor Eken at Copenhagen Conservatoire in 2015. Annelie Sophie Müller is a multiple winner of prestigious international competitions such as the National Competition in 2012 and Das Lied in 2013 in Berlin. In 2010 she also won 1st Prize at the 7th International Competition for the Lied Singing at the International Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart. Her first recording, released in 2014 by Hännsler Verlag, featured songs by Antonio Salieri.

She was recruited to the Young Ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin at the beginning of the 2010/11 season and attracted considerable attention in her second season there by taking over the leading role in Auber’s «Le cheval de bronze». She made her debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence with Mozart’s Cherubino in 2011 and was nominated as Young Artist of the Year in Opernwelt magazine in 2012.

The bass baritone Andrew Murphy comes from Dublin, where he also trained as a singer. Andrew Murphy has been a company member at Theater Basel since 2001 and was most recently heard in «Così fan tutte» as Don Alfonso (directed by Calixto Bieito).
From 1986 to 1989 he was a member of the Opera Studio at the Bavarian State Opera. During this time he continued his training with Hans Hotter and Sena Jurinac. He was subsequently with the Vienna Chamber Opera from 1989 to 1992 and taught by Austrian baritone Walter Berry. Andrew Murphy returned to Germany in 1992, staying with the Stadttheater Ulm until 1995. He was subsequently engaged as a company member at Staatstheater Saarbrücken from 1995 to 2001, before finally moving to Theater Basel, whose company he has belonged to ever since. His extensive operatic and concert repertoire includes:  Buonfede («Il mondo della luna»), Figaro and Doctor Bartolo («Le nozze di Figaro»), Leporello («Don Giovanni»), Don Magnifico («La Cenerentola»), Doctor Bartolo («Il barbiere di Siviglia»), Mustafa («L’Italiana in Algeri»), Dulcamara («L’elisir d’amore»), Don Pasquale («Don Pasquale»), Schaunard («La Bohème»), Sixtus Beckmesser («Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg»), Golaud («Pelléas et Mélisande»), Méphistophéles («La damnation de Faust»), Don Alfonso («Così fan tutte») and many more.

Born in Bucharest, the soprano Cristina Pasaroiu trained as a singer at the Conservatorio «Giuseppe Verdi» in Milan and at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna. As a member of the opera studio, the young soprano made her debut in Bologna as Magda in Puccini’s «La rondine». The multi-award-winning singer has been heard as Violetta (»La traviata«) at the opera houses in Bucharest, Frankfurt and Antwerp, as Fiordiligi («Così fan tutte») and as Mimì («La Bohème») in Rome, Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, as Desdemona («Otello») in Nice and Wiesbaden and as Gilda («Rigoletto») in Essen, Wiesbaden and at the opera festival in Savonlinna. In 2016 Cristina Pasaroiu made her debut at the Vienna State Opera as Micaëla in «Carmen». She has also sung this part at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Bregenz Festival. In 2018 she gave her first performances as Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta and Stella («Les contes d’Hoffmann») at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and as Alcina in Wiesbaden. During the 2019/2020 season at Theater Basel Cristina Pasaroiu can be seen as Mimì in «La Bohème».

Sofia Pavone (mezzo-soprano) began studying at the Musikhochschule in Cologne under Mechthild Georg and completed her Master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Frankfurt with Hedwig Fassbender with distinction in July 2014.  She is now taking the postgraduate course there with an examination concert. She has taken masterclasses with Brigitte Fassbaender, Helmut Deutsch, Axel Bauni and Ulrich Eisenlohr. She has been awarded a scholarship by the Frankfurter Bachkonzerte and in 2013 received a scholarship from the Richard Wagner Association in Cologne to attend the Bayreuth Festival. Sofia Pavone’s concert repertoire extends from Bach via Rossini to contemporary music. Visiting opera performances took her to the Städtische Bühnen Münster and Theater Aachen at an early stage. Sofia Pavone made her debut as The Curious Old Lady in Prokofiev’s «The Gambler» in January 2013. The same year she appeared as the young Chinese Wu in the German premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies’s opera «Kommilitonen!» at the Stadttheater Giessen, where she was also recently seen as Pierotto in «Linda di Chamounix» by Gaetano Donizetti.  She also sang the role of Zita in Giacomo Puccini’s «Gianni Schicchi» at LAB Frankfurt.

The Croatian mezzo soprano Ena Pongrac trained at the University of the Arts in Graz and the University of the Arts Berlin (with a masters in «Opera» and «Lieder/oratorio/concert performance»). She supplemented that training in masterclasses with Christa Ludwig, Matjaz Robavs, Eric Schneider, Ruza Pospis-Baldani, Dunja Vejzovic and others. In 2016 she made her debut as Zerlina («Don Giovanni») at the Jyväskylä Opera in Finland, to which she returned in the 2017/2018 season as Mercedes («Carmen»). Ena Pongrac made her debut in 2017 with the Junge Oper Schloss Weikersheim as Hänsel («Hänsel und Gretel»).

Her repertoire also includes contemporary parts such as the title role in «L'enfant et les Sortilèges» by Maurice Ravel, Madame Laperouse in Aribert Reimann’s «Melusine» and Lana in Arash Safaian’s «Exit Paradise». A live recording of the «Requiem» by Pekka Kostiainen with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia and Ena Pongrac is also available on Alba Records. Ena Pongrac has been a member of Theater Basel’s opera studio OperAvenir since the beginning of the 2018/19 season.

Anelio Rodríguez comes from La Palma in the Canary Islands. He began his training as a singer with Jorge Perdigón (tenor) in 2007 and continued this with Prof. Juan Carlos Morales (baritone) in 2008. Since 2016 he has studied with Prof. Reginaldo Pinheiro (tenor) at Freiburg Academy of Music. He has sung the roles of the Imperial Commissar (Madama Butterfly), the Notary (Don Pasquale), Guglielmo (Cosi Fan Tutte) and Masetto (Don Giovanni) at the Canary Islands music festival «Opera en el convento», with the Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre Minsk. He has also sung the roles of Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Ramón (Adiós a la Bohemia) at Theater Guimerá on Tenerife and the part of Ponlevi (Love and Jealousy by E.T.A. Hoffmann) on the Kammerbühne at Stadttheater Freiburg in 2018 and the part of  Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss) at Opera Teneriffa and Opera Gran Canaria in 2019. As an oratorio singer solo parts he has sung in Germany and Spain include Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini), the Requiem of Nunes Garcia, «The First Walpurgisnacht» (Mendelssohn), Fauré’s Requiem, Mozarts Requiem, the Oratorio de Noël (Saint Saëns), Dixit Dominus (Handel) and the Thunder Ode by Telemann (with members of the Freiburger Barockorchester). He graduated in Musicology from the Universitat Autonoma Barcelona in 2014.

Rolf Romei studied in Winterthur and Karlsruhe and has won several national and international competitions and prizes for emerging artists. In 1999 he was awarded the Swiss Cultural Prize. An important source of inspiration as a singer were private lessons with Nicolai Gedda. He has been engaged as a lyric tenor in companies at St. Gallen and Augsburg as well as Staatstheater Oldenburg. Guest appeareances have taken him to the opera houses in Stuttgart, Darmstadt, Berne, Aachen, Wuppertal, Würzburg, Düsseldorf, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Edinburgh Festival and the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Rolf Romei has been a company member at Theater Basel since the summer of 2006. Here he has been able to work on the great tenor parts of his metier. He has recently enjoyed great success as the titular hero in «Lohengrin», «Parsifal», «Idomeneo», «Faust» (Gounod and Berlioz) and «Hoffmann», as well as Don José, Lenski and Leukippos in «Daphne». He was also heard as Jimmy/Young Man/ in «American Lulu» by Olga Neuwirth at the Theater an der Wien.

He had previously aroused considerable attention as the Prince in Prokofiev’s «Love of Three Oranges», Sou Chong in «Das Land des Lächelns», the Painter in Berg’s «Lulu», Skuratov in Janáĉek’s «From the House of the Dead», the Prince in Dvorak’s «Rusalka» and the tenor part in the staged version of Britten’s «War Requiem».

Alongside his stage work, he pursues an active concert career. Thanks to his extensive repertoire, he is equally in demand as a performer of contemporary music and as a soloist for great oratorios and chamber music. So he has appeared at the Lucerne Festival in Mozart’s «David de Penitente» and as the Evangelist in Bach’s «St. John Passion», in the Zurich Tonhalle in Britten’s «War Requiem», in the Berlin Philharmonie with Martin’s «Golgotha» and in Lisbon with Dvorak’s «Stabat Mater». Under Helmuth Rilling he has sung in Penderecki’s «Credo», Bach’s «Mass in B-minor» and Haydn’s «Creation» and has also recorded Mozart’ s «Great Mass in C-minor» with Michel Corboz  for Swiss radio.

In the 2015/2016 season he can be heard in the Swiss premiere of «Donnerstag aus LICHT» by Karlheinz Stockhausen and in the role of  Andrey Khovansky in «Khovanshchina» by Modest Mussorgsky – conducted by Kirill Karabits and directed by Vasily Barkhatov.

Oksana Sekerina was born in Novy Urengoy, Russia. She studied in Khanty-Mansijsk and in Bari and won the Birgit Nilsson Prize at the 2017 Operalia Competition. In the summer of 2016 she played Donna Anna in «Don Giovanni» at Bregenz Festival. This was followed in the 2017/18 season by two engagements at Opernhaus Graz: here she sang the Countess in «Le Nozze di Figaro» and Tatyana in «Eugene Onegin». Also in 2018, she sang Ortlinde in «Die Walküre» at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse as well as Donna Anna («Don Giovanni»), Adalgisa («Norma») and Dona Leonora («La Forza del Destino») in Santiago de Chile. She recently made her debut in the title role of Puccini’s opera «Tosca» at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich.

Raphael Sigling began his musical education with the Regensburger Domspatzen. He then studied at the Academy of Music in Munich with Prof. Rita Hirner-Lill and KS Astrid Varnay. He took master courses with KS Prof. Jan Hendrik Rootering, Maestro Carlo Bergonzi and Prof. Helmut Deutsch. While still a student, Raphael Sigling’s first engagements took him to theatres in Wuppertal and Gelsenkirchen, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Royal Albert Hall, Auditorio Rai in Trieste and “La Pergola” in Florence. Subsequent engagements followed at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the theatres of Bozen and Meran, theatres in Shanghai and Peking, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main and Theater Freiburg. He has performed concerts at the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Residenz in Dresden, Andechs Monastery and in numerous cathedrals in France, Italy and Germany. He has made guest appearances at the Tiroler Festspielen in Erl, Lucerne Festival, Chiemgauer Opernsommer, accademia tirolensis, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, the Proms in London, the Opernfestspiele in Munich and the Festspielhaus in Bregenz.

Der Tenor Donovan Elliot Smith wurde im US-Amerikanischen Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania geboren. Er studierte während fünf Jahren bei Richard Cowan und setzte später seine Ausbildung in der Schweiz fort, wo er vor Kurzem sein Masterstudium am Schweizer Opernstudio der Hochschule der Künste Bern abschloss.
Donovan Elliot Smith trat in verschiedenen Opernproduktionen und Liederabenden sowohl in den Vereinigten Staaten wie auch in Europa auf. Er interpretierte zahlreiche Werke des amerikanischen Musiktheater-Repertoires ebenso wie Opernaufführungen.
 

The mezzo-soprano from Krefeld trained in Düsseldorf and London, where she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with distinction as a Master of Arts. She has attended masterclasses with Charlotte Lehmann, Rudolf Piernay, Barbara Bonney, Grace Bumbry and Helmut Deutsch. Kristina Stanek won the award as «Best Young Female Singer» at the European Music Festival in Rome and won First Prize at the Rotary Music Competition and at the Mozart Competition in Prague. From 2012 to 2015 Kristina Stanek was an ensemble member at Theater Trier. Here she was able to perform roles such as the eponymous heroine in Bizet’s «Carmen», Ravel’s Concepción in «L’Heure espagnole», Maddalena in «Rigoletto», Gluck’s «Orfeo», Prince Orlofsky in «Die Fledermaus», Veronica Quaife in the German premiere of Howard Shore’s «The Fly», Olga in «Eugene Onegin» and Sesto in «La Clemenza di Tito». From 2015 to 2017 she joined the ensemble at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe where roles she sang included Romeo in Bellini’s «I Capuleti e i Montecchi», Eliza in «My Fair Lady», Hänsel in «Hänsel und Gretel», Cherubino in «Le nozze di Figaro», Annio in« La Clemenza di Tito», 3rd Lady in «Die Zauberflöte» and Wellgunde in Wagner’s «Rheingold».
Since the beginning of the 2017/2018 season Kristina Stanek has been a member of the Theater Basel ensemble.

Cécile van de Sant studied with Cora Canne Meijer at the Sweelinck Conservatoire in Amsterdam and continued her training in New York with Marlena Kleinmann Malas. She is the winner of several international prizes, including the ’s Hertogenbosch International Singing Competition, the Concours de Chant Toulouse and the prestigious Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition in Vienna.

Her roles have included the title role in «La Cenerentola» in Kaiserslautern, Second Squire and Flower Maiden in «Parsifal» in Monte Carlo, Third Lady in «Die Zauberflöte» at the Opéra National de Paris, Sesto in «La Clemenza di Tito» (Mozart) with the Orquestra Simfònica de Balears from Palma, Juditha in Vivaldi’s «Juditha Triumphans» in San Francisco, Orfeo in «Orfeo ed Euridice» (Gluck) for Scottish Opera, Messagiera, Proserpina and La Speranze in Monteverdi’s «L’Orfeo» at the Bayerische Staatsoper and the Teatro Liceu Barcelona (recorded on DVD by Opus Arte).

The bass Alexander Vassiliev was born in St. Petersburg and trained as a singer at the P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow before joining the opera studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper. This was followed by full-time engagements at Theater Freiburg, Staatstheater Braunschweig and Cologne Opera. He has worked freelance since 2001, with guest appearances at houses including the Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Alexander Vassiliev is also a regular guest at the opera houses in Geneva, Brussels and Amsterdam as well as the Glyndebourne Festival. His wide repertoire includes roles such as Gurnemanz («Parsifal»), Prince Gremin («Eugene Onegin»), the Commendatore («Don Giovanni»), Priest / Badger («The Cunning Little Vixen»), Duke Bluebeard («Bluebeard’s Castle») and Don Pizarro («Fidelio»). From 2008-2010 Alexander Vassiliev was Artistic Director of the chamber music festival he co-founded «Klassikfest Kaiserstuhl» in Ihringen. During the 2019/2020 season at Theater Basel Alexander Vassiliev can be seen as Benoît and Alcindoro in «La Bohème».