Kostas Smoriginas at the ROH Jette Parker Young Artists Programme
Updated 2008-09-30
13-18 October, 2008. Once again, the Jette Parker Young Artists take over the Linbury of Royal Opera House for a week of events. This will be the audience's first opportunity to meet the new singers and music staff on the Programme, as well as another chance to hear the singers continuing for their second year. Lithuanian bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas will sing on 14, 16 and 17 of October at the three fully staged performances of a William Walton double bill Façade | The Bear, as well as at Meet the Young Artists - The Juke Box on 18 October, 12pm and 6pm.
Born into a well-known theatrical family in Vilnius in 1980, bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas studied from an early age at the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy. 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 before being invited to join the Jette Parker young artist programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, at the beginning of the 2007/08 Season.
To date, Mr Smoriginas has appeared as Araspe Tolemeo and Seneca L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Royal College of Music; Dandini La Cenerentola, Pizzaro Fidelio with the National Latvian Symphony Orchestra; Tomsky Pique Dame at the Latvian National Opera; Masetto Don Giovanni for Opera Island Kristiansand; last year he covered the role of Alidoro La Cenerentola at Glyndebourne and debuted in the role at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Other roles include Melitone La Forza del Destino and Don Giovanni.
Competition successes include the Clonter Opera prize and the Bruce Millar/Gulliver Memorial Trust Opera prize. This year he won third place in the Ferruccio Tagliavini International Competition in Deutschlandsberg, Austria.
Oratorio includes the Verdi and the Mozart Requiem, Händel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Recent and future Royal Opera House engagements include his debut as Alidoro, the Marquis d'Obigny La Traviata, Angelotti Tosca, Zuniga Carmen and a Flemish Deputy Don Carlo. He will also cover Escamillo, and the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro.
Kostas Smoriginas sings at the following performances:
Tue 14 Oct 2008, 7:00 PM William Walton. Façade | The Bear
Thu 16 Oct 2008, 7:00 PM William Walton. Façade | The Bear
Fri 17 Oct 2008, 7:00 PM William Walton. Façade | The Bear
Thu 16 Oct 2008, 7:00 PM William Walton. Façade | The Bear
Fri 17 Oct 2008, 7:00 PM William Walton. Façade | The Bear
Sat 18 Oct 2008, 12 PM and 6 PM Meet the Young Artists - The Juke Box
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD. Tickets £5-15. Box Office: 020 7304 4000
