Doctor Atomic

Leigh Melrose grew up in London and studied at St. John’s College in Cambridge as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The focus of his work is contemporary repertoire and dramatic works of the 20th century. He has sung, among others, Wozzeck at the English National Opera and the Zurich Opera House, Oedipus at the Komische Oper Berlin, Clov in the world premiere of György Kurtág’s "Fin de Partie" and Prospero in Thomas Adès’ "The Tempest" at La Scala in Milan, Šiškov ("From the House of the Dead") at the Ruhrtriennale, as well as The Traveller ("Death in Venice"), Friedrich ("Das Liebesverbot"), Ruprecht ("The Fiery Angel") and the title role of "Nixon in China" at the Teatro Real de Madrid. In addition, he has appeared as Alberich ("Das Rheingold") at the Vienna State Opera, the Ruhrtriennale, and the English National Opera. In the 2024/25 season, he made his debut as Balstrode ("Peter Grimes") at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, sang the title role in Beat Furrer’s new opera "Das große Feuer" at the Zurich Opera House, and Eurymaque in Gabriel Fauré’s "Pénélope" at the Bavarian State Opera. As a concert singer, he has performed several world premieres, including Louis Andriessen’s "Theatre of the World" in Amsterdam and Los Angeles, Dai Fujikura’s "Solaris" in a co-production of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the opera houses of Lille and Lausanne, as well as Elliot Carter’s "On Conversing with Paradise" at the Aldeburgh Festival. In the 25/26 season, he will be heard with the Berlin Philharmonic, at the Salzburg Easter Festival, and at the Berlin Festival.

Chinese baritone Xiaomeng Zhang studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School. As a former member of the Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House, he regularly appears at the house, where he has performed as Ping ("Turandot"), Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte"), Silvio ("Pagliacci"), and Donner ("Das Rheingold"). His repertoire also includes the title role in "Don Giovanni" and the roles Figaro ("The Barber of Seville"), Belcore ("L’Elisir d’amore"), Schaunard ("La bohème"), and Figaro ("The Marriage of Figaro"). At the Opéra national de Paris, he appeared as Zhou Enlai ("Nixon in China") and as Schaunard ("La bohème"). In the 2025/26 season, he will make his debut at the Royal Opera House in London as Ping and sing Dr. Falke ("Die Fledermaus") at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

Matthew Rose studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia before joining the Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. There he appeared, among others, as Polyphemus ("Acis and Galatea"), Bottom ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream"), Colline ("La bohème"), Leporello ("Don Giovanni"), and Haraschta ("The Cunning Little Vixen"). For his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2006 as Bottom, he received the John Christie Award. Guest engagements have since taken him to, among others, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Opéra National de Lyon, Teatro Real de Madrid, the English National Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the Bavarian State Opera. In addition, he has worked with renowned orchestras worldwide, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Berlin Philharmonic. His repertoire includes, among others, Wotan ("Der Ring des Nibelungen"), Fasolt ("Das Rheingold"), Baron Ochs ("Der Rosenkavalier"), Figaro ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Oroveso ("Norma"), Raimondo ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Claudio ("Agrippina"), Ashby ("La fanciulla del West"), and Giorgio Talbot ("Maria Stuarda").

Tenor Mauro Peter was born in Lucerne and studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. In 2012, he won first prize and the audience prize at the International Robert Schumann Competition. Since then, he has performed at leading concert halls and opera houses worldwide, including Wigmore Hall in London, Philharmonie de Paris, Carnegie Hall, Kölner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Hamburger Laeiszhalle, Musikverein Vienna, Wiener Konzerthaus, Verbier Festival, Lucerne Festival, Montréal Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Zurich Opera House, Pierre-Boulez-Saal, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Salzburg Festival, Semperoper Dresden, Musikfest Dresden, Bregenzer Festspiele, and Opéra National de Paris. His repertoire includes roles such as Andres ("Wozzeck"), Ferrando ("Così fan tutte"), Tamino ("The Magic Flute"), Loge ("Rheingold"), Naraboth ("Salome"), Nemorino ("L’elisir d’amore"), Eisenstein ("Die Fledermaus"), Prince ("The Love for Three Oranges"), and Max ("Der Freischütz"). As an internationally sought-after concert soloist, he has performed under the musical direction of renowned conductors including Ivor Bolton, Teodor Currentzis, Gustavo Dudamel, Iván Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Marie Jacquot, Vladimir Jurowski, Fabio Luisi, Joana Mallwitz, Antonello Manacorda, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Minasi, Andris Nelsons, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Trevor Pinnock, Simone Young, and Christian Thielemann.

Yannick Debus studied voice at the Lübeck University of Music, the Basel Academy of Music and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His first engagements included the Father in "Hansel and Gretel" at Schloss Weikersheim, Guglielmo in "Così fan tutte" at the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg, the Emperor in Ullmann’s "Emperor of Atlantis" as well as Figaro in Milhaud’s "La mère coupable" at Theater Basel and Emireno in Handel’s "Ottone" at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. From 2020 to 2022 he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. He has a close collaboration with René Jacobs, under whose direction he has appeared, among others, as Jesus ("St John Passion") at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as Apollo (Handel’s "Apollo e Dafne"), as Kilian and Ottokar ("Der Freischütz") including at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, in Handel’s "Israel in Egypt" at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Konzerthaus Freiburg and the Berlin Philharmonie, as well as in the title role of Monteverdi’s "Orfeo" with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, including at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris and at the Liceu in Barcelona. Also with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, he sang Jesus ("St Matthew Passion") under Francesco Corti on tour, including in Frankfurt, Madrid, Budapest, Zurich and Seoul. Since the 2024/25 season he has been a member of the ensemble of the Zurich Opera House. There he has recently sung Harlequin ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), Lesbo ("Agrippina"), the title role in Wolfgang Rihm’s "Jakob Lenz", Schaunard in "La bohème", Lescaut in Massenet’s "Manon" and Dr Falke in "Die Fledermaus".

Nathan Haller is from Canada and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York. In 2013, he participated in the International Meistersinger Academy in Neumarkt. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the OperAvenir Studio at Theater Basel, where he sang roles such as Tamino ("The Magic Flute"), Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet"), and Oronte ("Alcina"). In 2016, he appeared as Belmonte ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") at the Akko Opera Festival in Israel, and in 2017/18 as François in Leonard Bernstein’s "A Quiet Place" at Neue Oper Wien. Further engagements took him to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Vienna Volksoper, the Malmö Opera, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. On the concert stage, he performed at the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall and in Handel’s "La Resurrezione" with William Christie. He made his debut at the Zurich Opera House in 2018 in Schreker’s "Die Gezeichneten" and returned the following year as Albazar ("Il turco in Italia") as well as later in the title role of Mitterer’s "Tapferen Schneiderlein". Since the 2021/22 season, Nathan Haller has been a member of the Zurich Opera House ensemble. Here, he has recently sung roles including Mercure in Rameau’s "Platée", Gobin/Un giovane/Adolfo in Puccini’s "La rondine", Boni ("Die Csárdásfürstin"), Pong ("Turandot"), a Dance Master ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), as well as Andrès in "Les Contes d’Hoffmann", First Jew ("Salome"), Victorin ("Die tote Stadt"), Raoul de St. Brioche ("Die lustige Witwe"), Goro ("Madama Butterfly"), Valzacchi ("Der Rosenkavalier"), and Dr. Blind ("Die Fledermaus").

The mezzo-soprano Dominika Stefańska studied in Łódź and was a member of the Warsaw Opera Academy. She was a finalist at the Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry Competition 2021. At the Łódź Opera, she performed the roles of Volpino ("Lo speziale") and Mrs. Reich ("The Merry Wives of Windsor"), as well as a nymph ("Rusalka") at the Poznań Opera. As a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House, she appeared, among others, as Hippolyta in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", as well as in "Jim Knopf" and "Sweeney Todd". Starting from the 2026/27 season, Dominika Stefańska will become a permanent ensemble member at the Zurich Opera House.