Pannon Philharmonic

Bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas begins the 2009-10 Season by making his US debut with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in concerts in Atlanta and at Carnegie Hall in New York. He goes to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the role of Colline La Bohème, and to the Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin, for his role debut as Escamillo Carmen. He travels to Washington DC for his role debut in the title role Le Nozze di Figaro with Washington National Opera, and rounds out the season in Tel Aviv, appearing with The Israeli Opera in the roles of both Tomsky and Yeletsky Pique Dame.

Mr Smoriginas studied at the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy from an early age. After moving to London in 2005 and representing his country in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, he spent two years at the Royal College of Music, appearing as Araspe Tolemeo and Seneca L'incoronazione di Poppea. Previous appearances included Dandini La Cenerentola, Pizzaro Fidelio with the National Latvian Symphony Orchestra; Tomsky Pique Dame at Latvian National Opera; Masetto Don Giovanni and Melitone La Forza del Destino. In Season 2007-08 he joined the Jette Parker young artist programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Completely at ease on the concert platform, his repertoire includes the Requiems of Verdi, Mozart and Faure, Händel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Janacek’s Gagolitic Mass, and much more, including standard Russian repertoire.

His Royal Opera House engagements while a Jette Parker young artist include his unexpected mainstage debut as Alidoro La Cenerentola, the Marquis d'Obigny La Traviata, Angelotti Tosca, Zuniga Carmen, Flemish Deputy Don Carlo, Bello La Fanciulla del West, Smirnov The Bear, Schlemil Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Mandarin Turandot, Third Elder Lohengrin, Journalist Lulu; additionally he covered the roles of Escamillo Carmen and Mozart’s Figaro, and presented the title role Don Giovanni at the JPYAP end-of-season concert.

Recent engagements include his BBC Proms debut in Stravinsky’s Les Noce under the baton of Ed Gardner at the Royal Albert Hall; he recently won Third Place in Placido Domingo’s prestigious international vocal competition, Operalia.

Date Last Edited: 10th December 2009