Tassos Apostolou comes from Athens, where he trained as a singer with Frangiscos Voutsinos. With the aid of a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation he continued his studies with Maria Luisa Cioni and R. Negri in Milan, where he won the Luigia Stramesi International Song Competition. He is a graduate of the Veakis Dramatic Art School and was taught acting by Luca Ronconi at the Piccolo Theatre, Milan. Engagements as a soloist have taken him to the Greek National Opera in Athens, Thessaloniki Opera, the United Nations in New York City, Boston, the Lincoln Center, New York, the opening ceremony for the new library in Alexandria, the Athens State Orchestra, the Greek Television Symphony Orchestra, the Qatar Symphony Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Orchestra and the State Orchestra of Cyprus. He has also sung in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, in Delphi, in the Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, in Milan and Beijing (China), and has appeared in films by Theo Angelopoulos and others.

Elsa Benoit trained as a singer at the Amsterdam Conservatoire. From there she joined the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper from 2013 to 2015, where the roles she sang included La Comtesse («Le Comte Ory»). Her repertoire contains roles such as Euridice («L’Orfeo») and Papagena («The Magic Flute»). In the 2015/16 season she was a member of the resident company at Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where she appeared as Titania («A Midsummer Night’s Dream»), Giulietta («I Capuleti e i Montecchi») and Micaëla («Carmen»).She also made her debut at the Opéra de Lille and the Opéra de Reims in the title role of the world premiere of «Marta» by Wolfgang Mitterer.

She has been a member of the resident company at the Bayerische Staatsoper since the 2016/17 season where she has been seen in roles including Gretel («Hänsel und Gretel»), Woglinde («Das Rheingold», «Götterdämmerung»), Inès («La favorite»), Najda («Ariadne auf Naxos») and Azema («Semiramide»).

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 is a member of the opera studio OperAvenir at Theater Basel for the 2017/2018 season, singing the roles of Celia («Lucio Silla») and Lilith («Der Goldkäfer»).

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 American bass baritone studied at Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Michigan before becoming a member of the opera studio at Michigan Opera Theatre, Fort Worth Opera, Nashville Opera and the San Francisco Opera Center. He first came to Europe in 2010, where he became a member of the opera studio at the Teatro Regio Torino and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He subsequently joined the resident company at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where his roles included Leporello («Don Giovanni»), Figaro («The Marriage of Figaro»), Dulcamara («L’elisir d’amore»), Klingsor («Parsifal»), Gunther («Götterdämmerung»), Redburn («Billy Budd»), Biterolf («Tannhäuser»), Junius («The Rape of Lucretia»), Saint-Bris («Les Huguenots»), Polizeichef («Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk») and Sonora («La fanciulla del West»).

Seth Carico has established a considerable reputation for parts from the 20th and 21st century repertoire. He has sung roles such as the Father in the world premiere of Aribert Reimann’s «L’invisible», The Traveler and other parts («Death in Venice») and Doctor Kolenatý («The Makropulos Case»). For his performance as Cassandra («Oresteia») Seth Carico was nominated as Best Singer for the Faust Prize 2015. His most recent roles include Panthée («Les Troyens») at Hamburg Staatsoper and Joseph de Rocher («Dead Man Walking») at Minnesota Opera.

Paul Curievici studierte Gesang an der Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London bei John Evans. Sein Debüt gab er am Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Gerald Barrys «The Importance of Being Ernest» und kehrte später als Eames («The Virtues of Things»), Titorelli/Flogger/Student in der Uraufführung von Philip Glass’ «The Trial» und in «Salome» dorthin zurück.

Weitere Rollen in modernen und zeitgenössischen Werken waren Painter in Olga Neuwirths «American Lulu» mit der Opera Group am Young Vic, in Bregenz und beim Edinburgh Festival sowie Sam Kaplan («Street Scene») mit The Opera Group im Liceu Barcelona und am Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Zudem sang Paul Curievici Don Curzio/Don Basilio («Le nozze di Figaro») an der Scottish Opera in Glasgow, Jack («Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny») am Salzburger Landestheater und Kudrjas («Katja Kabanova») an der Opera Holland Park.

Zuletzt war er als Raúl in Thomas Adès’ «The Exterminating Angel» an der Königlichen Dänischen Oper in Kopenhagen, als Pedrillo («Die Entführung aus dem Serail») am Grange Festival in Northington, als Guidobald in Schrekers «Die Gezeichneten» am Opernhaus Zürich und in der Titelpartie in Bernsteins «Candide» an der Komischen Oper Berlin zu erleben.

Der in Hamburg geborene Bariton absolvierte 2015 an der Musikhochschule Lübeck seinen Bachelor im Hauptfach Gesang bei Michael Gehrke und 2017 im Hauptfach Musiktheorie/ Gehörbildung bei Prof. Dr. Oliver Korte. Von 2015 bis 2017 erhielt er privaten Gesangsunterricht bei Margreet Honig in Amsterdam. Seit September 2017 studiert er im Master Gesang an der Hochschule für Musik Basel bei Marcel Boone und an der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis bei Rosa Domínguez.

Erste Bühnenerfahrung sammelte Yannick Debus in der Lübecker Hochschulproduktion von «Le nozze di Figaro» (Figaro). Am Theater Kiel war er als Perückenmacher in «Ariadne auf Naxos» und am Theater Lübeck als Don Perizonio in «L’impresario in angustie» zu erleben. Weitere Engagements führten ihn 2017 an die Junge Oper Schloss Weikersheim («Hänsel und Gretel», Vater) und 2018 an die Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg («Così fan tutte», Guglielmo). «Der Kaiser von Atlantis» ist seine erste Produktion am Theater Basel.

Holger Falk began his singing career with the Regensburger Domspatzen and subsequently trained as a singer in Würzburg and Milan. In addition to the classical and baroque repertoire, the baritone has specialized in contemporary music. Numerous parts have been composed for him and he has performed world premieres of stage works by Eötvös, Furrer, Aperghis, Wertmüller, Mernier, Srnka, Tarnopolski, Müller-Wieland, Panisello and Schleiermacher as well as a range of classical roles from Monteverdi’s «Orfeo» to Wolfgang Rihm’s major operas. Invitations have taken him to opera houses including the Teatro Real Madrid, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Frankfurt Opera, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Theátre des Champs Elysees in Paris, the Theater an der Wien and the National Opera in Warsaw. Holger Falk has also performed Lieder at concert halls throughout Europe. His discography includes recordings of all 115 mélodies for a male voice by Francis Poulenc and the mélodies and chansons of Erik Satie, recordings of songs by Wolfgang Rihm, Hanns Eisler and Josef Matthias Hauer – all released by MDG.

In the 2016/2017 season at Theater Basel, Holger Falk appears as Kassandra und Déesse Athena in Xennakis‘ «Oresteia».

The baritone was born in Milan in 1991 and trained as a singer with Gianluca Valenti at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire in Milan. In 2014 Riccardo Fassi was awarded the prize as Best Young Singer at the respected Italian singing competition «AsLiCo». The baritone made his operatic debut in the title role of Cimarosa’s opera «L’impresario in Angustie» at the Circolo Filologico, Milan. He has since been heard on wide range of operatic stages across Europe, including as Figaro («Le nozze di Figaro») and Le Bailli («Werther») at the Tenerife Auditorium, as Figaro once again in Bologna, as Count Rodolfo («La Sonnambula») and Samuel («Un ballo in maschera») at the Teatro Jovellanos in Gjion and as Guglielmo («Così fan tutte») in Granada. Riccardo Fassi made his debut at the Opera Lombardia 2014 as Masetto («Don Giovanni»). And in 2015 he made his role debut as Papageno («The Magic Flute») at the Royal Opera House of Muscat. Most recently, in December 2016, the young baritone made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as Pistola («Falstaff»).

The soprano Rosa Feola trained at the «Giuseppe Martucci» State Conservatoire in Salerno and in masterclasses at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In 2010 she won Second Prize, the Zarzuela Prize and the Audience Award in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. This was followed by engagement at numerous opera houses including the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opernhaus Zürich, the Teatro Real in Madrid, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Welsh National Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Ravenna, Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals.

Her repertoire includes roles such as Adina («L’elisir d’amore»), Gilda («Rigoletto»), Micaëla («Carmen»), Nannetta («Falstaff»), Ilia («Idomeneo»), Susanna («Le nozze di Figaro»), Zerlina («Don Giovanni»), Elvira («I puritani»), Norina («Don Pasquale») and Sandrina («La finta giardiniera»). In the process the conductors she has worked with include Kent Nagano, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Bruno Campanella and Christopher Hogwood. Rosa Feola has also made numerous concert performances, for example in Rossini’s «Petite messe solenelle» and in Orff’s «Carmina Burana» with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a concert staging of «La clemenza di Tito» under Louis Langrée. Forthcoming engagements will take the soprano to the Liceu Barcelona and the Metropolitan Opera.

Andrew Foster-Williams trained in London at the Royal Academy of Music, where he now teaches. His wide-ranging repertoire includes a broad spectrum of roles from the baroque to the modern periods such as Garibaldo in Handel’s «Rodelinda», Leporello in Mozart’s «Don Giovanni», Conte in «The Marriage of Figaro», Pizarro in Beethoven’s «Fidelio», the title role in Rossini’s «Guillaume Tell», the four villains in Offenbach’s «Les contes d’Hoffman», Telramund in Wagner’s «Lohengrin», Gunther in «Götterdämmerung», Nick Shadow in «The Rake’s Progress» and Balstrode in «Peter Grimes».

Andrew Foster-Williams has sung at the Opéra National du Rhin, Opéra Lyon, both the English and Welsh National Operas and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real in Madrid, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Theater an der Wien, at Washington Opera and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. He has made guest appearances at the Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Festival, the Händel Festspiele in Halle and Göttingen and the Mostly Mozart Festival in London and New York, where he has also performed at Carnegie Hall. He has worked with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony and Concertgebouw orchestras, Les Talents Lyriques and the Mozarteum Orchestra.

Samantha Gaul ist Ensemblemitglied am Theater Freiburg und gestaltete dort u. a. die Partien Musetta («La Bohème»), Olympia («Hoffmanns Erzählungen) und die Titelpartie der deutschen Erstaufführung von Mark Anthony Turnages «Coraline». In der aktuellen Spielzeit debütiert die junge Sopranistin als Adele («Die Fledermaus»), Zerlina («Don Giovanni»), als Najade («Ariadne auf Naxos») an der Oper Frankfurt und «Musetta» am Konzerttheater Bern.

Darüber hinaus führen sie Gastengagements an das Theater Basel, zu den Schwetzinger SWR Festspielen, sowie erneut an das Staatstheater Augsburg, wo sie bereits als Sophie Scholl (Zimmermanns «Weisse Rose»), in der Titelpartie von Hartmanns «Simplicius Simplicissimus», als Serpetta («La finta giardiniera») und «Adina» («L’elisir d’amore») überzeugen konnte.

Bereits während ihres Studiums bei Prof. Hedwig Fassbender in Frankfurt gastierte sie am Staatstheater Darmstadt, am Theater Giessen und bei der Münchener Biennale für zeitgenössisches Musiktheater. Derzeit vervollkommnet die mehrfach ausgezeichnete Künstlerin ihre Ausbildung im Masterstudiengang Liedgestaltung an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater München bei Christiane Iven. Samantha Gaul wurde in der Opernwelt als Nachwuchskünstlerin des Jahres 2018 nominiert.

The soprano Nicole Heaston was born in Chicago. Engagements have taken her to the Metropolitan Opera New York, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and festivals such as Glyndebourne Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Wiener Festwochen. She has sung Gilda, Susanna, Pamina and Adina („«L’elisir d’amore») at Houston Grand Opera and Countess Almaviva («The Marriage of Figaro») at Boston Lyric Opera.

Since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York she has become a regular guest in roles including Ilia, Pamina and Echo in «Ariadne auf Naxos». She has also been heard in the title role of Handel’s «Alcina» and as Alice Ford («Falstaff») at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, Countess Almaviva («The Marriage of Figaro») at Den Norske Opera and Utah Opera, Arminda («La Finta Giardiniera») for the Glyndebourne Festival and in the title role of «L’incoronazione di Poppea» at the Semperoper Dresden. At Theater Basel she has also performed the title role in Händel’s «Alcina».

Der Tenor Emanuel Heitz studierte Gesang bei Marcel Bone in Basel und schloss sein Studium an der Royal Academy Opera in London bei Neil Mackie ab. Im Frühjahr 2014 war er als La Théière und Le Petit Vieillard in Ravels «L’enfant et les Sortilèges» zum ersten Mal am Theater Basel zu erleben. Im Oktober 2015 sang Emanuel Heitz die Rolle des Richard in «Vertrauenssache» von Ernst Krenek im Gare du Nord Basel. 2016 folgte mit Johannes Hankes «Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren» eine weitere Produktion am Theater Basel. An der Royal Academy Opera sang der junge Tenor die Titelrolle in Offenbachs «Orphée aux Enfers», Mackie Messer («Die Dreigroschenoper») und Don Ottavio («Don Giovanni»). In der Sommersaison 2018 sang Emanuel Heitz im Rahmen des Alvarez Young Artist Program an der Garsington Opera Monostatos («Die Zauberflöte»). Als Mitglied des Opernstudios der Opéra de Lyon wird Emanuel Heitz dort 2019 in Monteverdis «Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria» zu sehen sein. Als Konzertsänger gab Emanuel Heitz in diesem Jahr sein Debüt in der Wigmore Hall, wo er unter der Leitung von Rachel Podger Arien von Rameau interpretierte.

Sara Hershkowitz wurde in Los Angeles geboren. Engagements führten sie an bedeutende Bühnen wie u. a. die New Israeli Opera, New York City Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Opéra national de Lorraine, das Wiener Konzerthaus und die Cité de la musique.

Als Ensemblemitglied am Theater Bremen war sie in Partien wie u. a. Sophie («Der Rosenkavalier», Gretel («Hänsel und Gretel»), Adele («Die Fledermaus»), Konstanze («Die Entführung aus dem Serail»), Arminda («La finta giardiniera»), Donna Anna («Don Giovanni») und Zaïde («Zaïde/Adama») zu erleben. Für ihre Darstellung der Zaïde und der Donna Anna wurde sie im Magazin Opernwelt als Sängerin des Jahres nominiert.

Ihr Repertoire reicht von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (u. a. Königin der Nacht in «Die Zauberflöte») über Richard Strauss (u. a. Zerbinetta in «Ariadne auf Naxos») bis hin zu zeitgenössischen Werken (u. a. Venus/Gepopo in Ligetis «Le Grand Macabre», Governess in Brittens «The Turn of the Screw», Autonoe in Henzes «Die Bassariden» und John Cages «Europeras»).

Darüber hinaus übernahm Sara Hershkowitz die Titelpartie in «Zanaida», einer wiederentdeckten Oper von Johann Christian Bach. In Offenbachs «Hoffmanns Erzählungen» im Opernhaus Wuppertal verkörperte sie alle vier Geliebten des Dichters: Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta und Stella. Zu ihren CD-Einspielungen gehören Donizettis szenische Kantate «Aristeia» sowie Simon Mayrs «Il sogno di Partenope» unter der Leitung von Franz Hauk.

Tenor Otar Jorjikia comes from Georgia. He trained as a singer at the Conservatoire in  Tiflis, attended master courses by Renato Bruson and Edda Moser and was a member of the International Opera Studio at Opernhaus Zürich. In 2016 he won First Prize at the Galina Vishnevskaya International Opera Singer’s Competition. The young tenor has already made guest appearances at Opernhaus Zürich, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Mariinsky Theatre, the National Operas in Poland and Lithuania, the Teatro Communale de Bologna, the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Busseto, the Teatro Reggio di Parma and Opera Australia in Sydney.

His repertoire includes roles such as the Duke («Rigoletto»), Foresto («Attila»), Gustavo III («Un ballo in maschera»), Don Alvaro («La forza del destino»), Cavaradossi («Turandot»), Rodolfo («La Bohème»), Lensky («Eugene Onegin»), Alfredo («La traviata») and Don José («Carmen»). One of the highlights of his career to date was his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre in 2016, singing the part of Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s «Simon Boccanegra» alongside Plácido Domingo.

Stefanie Knorr wuchs in Bietigheim-Bissingen bei Stuttgart auf. Die Sopranistin absolvierte zunächst ein Schulmusikstudium an der Hochschule für Musik Freiburg im Breisgau mit dem Hauptfach Klavier und Gesangsunterricht bei Patricia Argast und Regina Kabis. Zugleich nahm sie ein Mathematikstudium auf Lehramt an der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg auf, welches sie 2015 abschloss. Derzeit studiert sie Gesang an der Hochschule für Musik Basel bei Marcel Boone. Meisterkurse bei Margreet Honig, Valérie Guillorit, Ralf Gothóni und Christine Schäfer begleiten ihr Studium.

Am Theater Basel debütierte Stefanie Knorr im März 2016 als Prinzessin in der Kinderoper «Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren» von Stefan Johannes Hanke. In den vergangenen Spielzeiten war sie als Grille in «Die Genesung der Grille» von Richard Ayres und als Solveig in der Ballettproduktion «Peer Gynt» von Johan Inger zu erleben.

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.

Mexican tenor Fabián Lara trained as an opera singer in Tultepec, Mexico and at the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo in Valencia. He has won numerous singing competitions including the 2013 Carlos Morelli National Singing Contest in Mexico and Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques in Montreal, Canada and has attended mastercourses with such famous opera singers as Gregory Kunde, Ramón Vargas and Javier Camarena. He made his international debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in the concert «Summer Night at the Opera».

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.

Die gebürtige Baslerin begann ihre musikalische Bildung auf dem Fasnachtspiccolo. Erste Bühnenerfahrungen machte sie im Kinder-Charivari auf der Kleinen Bühne am Theater Basel. Mit Gesangsunterricht setzte sie ihre musikalische Bildung u. a. bei Richard Levitt fort. Zurzeit studiert sie Gesang an der Hochschule für Musik Basel bei Isolde Siebert.

Als Oratoriensängerin sang Alexandra Meier das «Miserere» von E. T. A. Hoffmann am Lisbon Music Fest und das «Requiem in d-Moll» von Mozart am Europäischen Jugendchor Festival Basel. Auf der Bühne war sie im vergangenen Jahr als Hänsel in einer bearbeiteten Fassung von «Hänsel und Gretel» von Humperdinck mit der Mädchenkantorei Basel und der Südwestdeutschen Philharmonie in Konstanz zu sehen, sowie in der Uraufführung des zeitgenössischen Musiktheaterstücks «Rûah» im Ziegelhofareal in Liestal. In der vergangenen Spielzeit war Alexandra Meier im Theater Basel als Anneli in «Der Goldkäfer» von Dai Fujikura zu sehen.

Mezzo-soprano Jordanka Milkova trained as a singer at the music academy of her native city of Sofia. She then graduated with distinction from the Swiss Opera Studio at the Hochschule der Künste in Berne while also performing significant roles at the Ensembletheater Biel-Solothurn. Further opera and concert engagements followed across Europe: at the Helsinki Music Center, Tampere Hall in Finland, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Philharmonie Sofia, the Théâtre National du Luxemburg, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti di Modena, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Opernhaus Halle, and in Dresden, Augsburg, Oldenburg, Regensburg, Pforzheim, Freiburg im Breisgau, at the Theater am Revier Gelsenkirchen, Theater Lübeck and Stadttheater Berne as well as with Solothurn Classics.

She made a successful Wagner debut at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland under conductor Philippe Auguin. Her broad repertoire includes all the classic mezzo roles such as Carmen, Dalila, Eboli, Amneris, Ulrica, Clytemnestra, The Composer, Hansel, Dorabella as well as Fenena, Ascanio, Annio, Suzuki, Maddalena, Dryade and many more. Jordanka Milkova also makes regular concert appearances (including Verdi’s «Requiem», Mahler’s «2nd Symphony», Dvořák’s «Stabat Mater», Gorecki’s «Symphony of Sorrowful Songs», Mahler’s «Seven Songs» and Wagner’s «Wesendonck Lieder»).

The critics of Opernwelt magazine nominated Jordanka Milkova as the Best Newcomer for her interpretation of Amneris («Aida»).

Soprano Svetlana Moskalenko was born in Russia and completed her studies at the State Conservatoire in St. Petersburg in 2012. She has been a member of the ensemble of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg since 2011, performing numerous roles such as the Queen of the Night («The Magic Flute»), Oscar («Un ballo in maschera»), Susanna («Le nozze di Figaro»), Musetta («La bohème»), Adina («L’elisir d’amore») and Norina («Don Pasquale») as well as undertaking concert tours of China and Japan.

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.

Noëmi Nadelmann studied as a singer in her native Zurich and in the USA. After training at Opernhaus Zurich’s International Opera Studio, she made her debut in 1987 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice as Musetta («La Bohème»). From 1990 to 1993 she was a resident artists at the Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. Her career subsequently took her to leading international opera houses in Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Chicago, Vienna, Amsterdam, New York, Munich, Moscow, Tokyo – and regular engagements at the Komische Oper in Berlin. In Switzerland she has made guest appearances in Basel, Berne, Zurich, Lausanne and St. Gallen. She has worked together with numerous prestigious conductors, such as Gerd Albrecht, Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and René Jacobs.

Her repertoire includes such roles as Nedda («Pagliacci»), Zerbinetta («Ariadne auf Naxos»), Musetta («La Bohème»), Violetta («La traviata»), Armida («Rinaldo»), Lucia («Lucia di Lammermoor»), Donna Anna («Don Giovanni»), Marie («Wozzeck»), Rosalinde («Die Fledermaus»), Hanna Glawari («Die lustige Witwe»), Marguérite («Faust»), Contessa («The Marriage of Figaro»), Leïla («The Pearl Fishers»), Jenny («Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny») and Contessa de la Roche («Die Soldaten»). Noëmi Nadelmann can also be heard in concerts and recitals. She has appeared in numerous television, radio and film productions and on several successful CD recordings. She was seen most recently at Theater Basel in Calixto Bieito’s production of Mozart’s «Così fan tutte».

The baritone Ernesto Petti was born in Salerno and trained as a singer with Otello Visconti and at the Accademia di Alto Perfezionamento Torre del Lago Puccini and the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo in Valencia. He made his opera debut in 2009 as Eagro in Gluck’s «Orfeo ed Euridice» at the Valle d’Itria Festival in Martina Franca. Ernesto Petti made his debut as Giorgio Germont («La traviata») in Lecce in 2015. Since then he has sung parts such as Renato («Un ballo in maschera»), Enrico («Lucia di Lammermoor»), Conte di Luna («Il Trovatore») and Paolo («Simone Boccanegra»). Guest engagements have taken him to the opera houses in Bari, Ravenna, Milan, Cagliari and Modena, to Peking and to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

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.

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.

The baritone Ernesto Petti was born in Salerno and trained as a singer with Otello Visconti and at the Accademia di Alto Perfezionamento Torre del Lago Puccini and the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo in Valencia. He made his opera debut in 2009 as Eagro in Gluck’s «Orfeo ed Euridice» at the Valle d’Itria Festival in Martina Franca. Ernesto Petti made his debut as Giorgio Germont («La traviata») in Lecce in 2015. Since then he has sung parts such as Renato («Un ballo in maschera»), Enrico («Lucia di Lammermoor»), Conte di Luna («Il Trovatore») and Paolo («Simone Boccanegra»). Guest engagements have taken him to the opera houses in Bari, Ravenna, Milan, Cagliari and Modena, to Peking and to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

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.

The Los Angeles-born soprano Leela Subramaniam trained as a singer at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. After she was awarded the prestigious Björn Eklund Opera Foundation scholarship, Leela Subramaniam joined the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper for the 2015/2016 season. The roles she sang here included Miss Wordsworth («Albert Herring»), Barbarina («The Marriage of Figaro»), Papagena («The Magic Flute»), Contessa di Ceprano («Rigoletto») and a Fifteen Year Old («Lulu»).

In the 2017/2018 season the young soprano joined the Metropolitan Opera to cover Papagena, 1st Flower Maiden («Parsifal») and Kate Pinkerton («Madama Butterfly»). While in New York City Leela Subramanian also made her debut as Donna Anna («Don Giovanni»). Other engagements took the soprano to venues such as the Gärtnerplatz Theatre in Munich, LA Opera, Bergamo and Carnegie Hall. Her repertoire includes such roles as Giannetta («L'elisir d'amore»), Angelica («Orlando Paladino»), Pamina («The Magic Flute») and the title roles in «Thaïs» and «Lucia di Lammermoor».

The American soprano Talise Trevigne trained at the Manhattan School of Music. While still a student she made her debuts as Violetta («La traviata») and Zerlina («Don Giovanni») at the Aspen Music Festival. Since then the soprano has delighted international audiences in roles including Micaëla («Carmen»), Gilda («Rigoletto»), Mimì («La Bohème»), the title roles in «Carmen» and «Manon» and as Cio-Cio-San («Madama Butterfly»). She has performed at the opera houses in Lyon, Washington, San Francisco, Melbourne, Birmingham, North Carolina and Montréal.

The soprano is also a passionate interpreter of the works of contemporary composers. She has collaborated closely with the composer Jake Heggies, who composed the role of Pip the cabin boy in his opera «Moby Dick» for Talise Trevigne. She also performed the world premiere of Heggies’ song cycle «9/11 – Memories from Houston» at Houston Grand Opera and can be heard on the CD recordings of his works. In 2016 Talise Trevigne was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category «Best Solo Classical CD» for her recording of Christopher Rouse’s «Kabir Padavili» with the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Michael von der Heide was born in 1971 and grew up in Bergdorf Amden. His international career began in 1996 with the release of his first solo album.  Von der Heide’s trademark is his musical versatility. He borrows from jazz, pop, folk and chansons and sings in German, Swiss German and French.

Von der Heide has now released his eleventh album «Paola» on Bellevue, given hundreds of concerts in Switzerland and abroad (in Germany, Austria, Canada and Ukraine), appeared on countless tv shows and has made stage appearances in several Christoph Marthaler productions («Lina Böglis Reise», «O.T.», «Meine Faire Dame» and «King Size») at Schauspielhaus Zürich, Theater Basel, Avignon Opera House, the Théâtre Odeon in Paris and the Royal Opera House in London. He is the winner of numerous awards including the Silver Hare for Swiss pop song of the year 1998 for «Jeudi Amour». He was awarded the «Prix Walo» in the song/chanson category in 1999, the German Cabaret Prize (chanson) in 2000 and several golden discs for a range of projects. He has worked with artists such as Annette Humpe, 2raumwohnung, Kuno Lauener, Martin Suter, Milena Moser and Nina Hagen.

Vince Yi was born in South Korea and grew up in California. He studied at Boston University and the University of Michigan. In 2007 he was awarded a place on the Merola Opera Program for young artists by San Francisco Opera. Yi made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2009 as part of the series «The Song Continues» presented by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. In 2012 he sang the male lead in Hasse’s «Piramo e Tisbe» at the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival. In 2013 he appeared in the new production of Purcell’s «The Indian Queen» at Perm Opera and the Teatro Real in Madrid. This production was recorded on DVD and later performed at the Bolshoi Theatre and English National Opera. For this he was nominated for Russia‘s Golden Mask Award in the category of Best Male Singer.

Vince Yi has also sung the title role in Vinci’s «Artaserse» at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Cologne Opera and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and Emilia in Vinci’s «Catone in Utica» (available on CD), Sigismondo in «Arminio» (available on CD) and Fraarte in «Radamisto». He has previously been seen at Theater Basel as Ruggiero in Handel’s «Alcina».