La fanciulla del west

The German soprano Anja Kampe is one of the leading singers in her field. With role portrayals such as Brünnhilde in "Der Ring des Nibelungen" at the Berlin State Opera and the Vienna State Opera, Kundry at the Vienna State Opera and the Opéra national de Paris, Sieglinde at the Bayreuth Festival, Isolde at the Berlin State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, as well as Marie in "Wozzeck" at the Vienna State Opera and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, she has set standards. In the 2025/26 season, she can be seen as Brünnhilde in "Der Ring of the Nibelungen", as Marie in "Wozzeck" and as Ortrud in "Lohengrin" at the Berlin State Opera. At the Hamburg State Opera, she takes on the title role in "Ariadne auf Naxos", and at the Vienna State Opera she can also be heard as Ariadne. At the Wagner Days in Budapest, she sings Kundry in "Parsifal". Concert engagements take her, among others, to the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and to Radio France Montpellier. Highlights of past seasons include Isolde at the San Francisco Opera, her role debut as Ariadne in Hamburg, Ortrud at the Semperoper Dresden and at the Munich Opera Festival, Brünnhilde in Sydney and Berlin, her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Senta in "Der fliegende Holländer", as well as new productions of "La fanciulla del West", "Tristan und Isolde" and "Parsifal". Her repertoire also includes roles such as Senta, Leonore, Lisa, Jenůfa, Carlotta and Tosca. She has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Philippe Jordan, Christian Thielemann, Sir Simon Rattle and Simone Young.

The tenor Jonas Kaufmann studied voice at the Academy of Music in his hometown of Munich. After engagements in Saarbrücken, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Milan, he joined the Zurich Opera House in 2001. From there, his international career took off with appearances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan, the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, as well as at the Salzburg and Bayreuth Festivals. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2006. He has sung the title roles in Verdi’s "Otello" in London, Munich, and Naples, Massenet’s "Werther" in Paris, Vienna, and New York, and Wagner’s "Lohengrin" in Bayreuth, Milan, Paris, and Melbourne. In the field of lieder, he enjoys a close artistic partnership with Helmut Deutsch, with whom he gave the first solo recital at the Met in New York in 2011 since Luciano Pavarotti. Jonas Kaufmann is an exclusive artist with Sony Music, and many of his recordings have received awards such as the Gramophone Award. He has been named "Singer of the Year" multiple times, including by Opernwelt magazine, Diapason, Musical America, and the juries of the International Opera Awards and the Opus Klassik. In 2013, he was named Bavarian Kammersänger and in 2022 Austrian Kammersänger. He received the Bambi Award in 2014, the Premio Puccini in 2015, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2016, was appointed "Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" in 2018, received the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art, and in 2024 was awarded the "Ordre de la Légion d’honneur". Since 2024, Jonas Kaufmann has also served as Artistic Director of the Tyrolean Festival Erl.

Die Partie des Calaf gehört derzeit zu den Paraderollen des deutsch-brasilianischen Tenors Martin Muehle. In der laufenden Spielzeit sang er sie in Barrie Koskys Turandot-Neuinszenierung an der Niederländischen Nationaloper unter der Leitung von Lorenzo Viotti und am Teatro Real in Madrid. Weitere Puccini-Partien waren in 2022/23 Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Cavaradossi (Tosca) in 2021/22 an der Staatsoper Stuttgart, Luigi in Il tabarro an der Bayerischen Staatsoper in München und Des Grieux an der Oper Frankfurt. In den vergangenen Spielzeiten sang er Don José in Bizets Carmen an der Staatsoper Hamburg, am Bolschoi-Theater und in der Arena di Verona, wo er ausserdem als Radamès in Verdis Aida debütierte. Martin Muehle war zwischen 2013 bis 2015 Mitglied des Ensembles am Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Tomasz Konieczny, wurde in Polen geboren und studierte an der dortigen Filmakademie zunächst Schauspiel. Er wirkte als Schauspieler im Theater und war an verschiedenen Film- und Fernsehproduktionen beteiligt. Sein Gesangsstudium begann er an der Fryderyk-Chopin-Akademie in Warschau und setzte es an der Hochschule für Musik in Dresden fort. Tomasz Konieczny ist regelmässiger Gast an zahlreichen renommierten Häusern weltweit; er sang u. a. am Teatro Real Madrid, an der Semperoper Dresden, an der Opéra National de Paris, an der Met in New York, der Bayerischen Staatsoper, bei den Salzburger und den Bayreuther Festspielen und an der Scala in Mailand. Von 2006-2014 gehörte er zum Ensemble der Deutschen Oper am Rhein, wo er u. a. Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande) Amfortas (Parsifal), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Holländer, Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Balstrode (Peter Grimes), Alberich (Der Ring der Nibelungen), Selim (Il turco in Italia), Falstaff und Escamillo gesungen hat. Seit 2009 ist die Wiener Staatsoper seine künstlerische Heimat. Dort war er bisher in Partien wie Alberich, Wotan, Telramund, Amfortas, Jochanaan und Holländer zu erleben. Seit 2019 ist er Kammersänger der Wiener Staatsoper. Tomasz Konieczny ist auch mit einem breiten Repertoire im Konzertfach aktiv. Zudem ist er seit 2023 Gründer und Künstlerischer Leiter des Baltic Opera Festival in der Dreistadt (Danzig-Sopot-Gdingen). 2025 wird er u. a. an der Metropolitan Opera als Pizarro (Fidelio), bei den Bayreuther Festspielen als Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring der Nibelungen) und an der Oper Amsterdam als Boris Godunow auftreten.

Aksel Daveyan comes from Armenia, where he studied at the State Conservatory in Yerevan. He has been awarded prizes at several competitions, including the Elena Obraztsova Competition in St. Petersburg, the Queen Sonja Competition in Oslo, the Stanisław Moniuszko Singing Competition in Warsaw, and the Gohar Gasparyan Competition in Armenia. From 2022 to 2024, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House, where he appeared as Maestro in Donizetti's "Viva la mamma", Moralès ("Carmen"), Dumas ("Andrea Chénier"), soloist in "Timekeepers", Sciarrone ("Tosca"), Page ("Roberto Devereux"), and as the Consul ("Eliogabalo"). Since 2024, he has been a company member at the Oldenburg State Theatre. His repertoire there includes Giorgio Germont ("La traviata"), Ottokar ("Der Freischütz"), the Forester ("Das schlaue Füchslein"), Moralès, the Captain (Manfred Gurlitt's "Wozzeck"), Figaro ("Il barbiere di Siviglia"), and the Police Chief ("Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk"). As a guest, he has appeared as Marcello ("La bohème") at the Glyndebourne Festival, Figaro ("Il barbiere di Siviglia") at Theater Bonn, and as Prince Yamadori ("Madama Butterfly") with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival, as well as in concert at the Berlin Philharmonie. In concert, he has sung Mansurian's "Requiem" at the National Chamber Music Hall in Yerevan, Haladjian's "Missa de Lumine" at the Frankfurt St. Thomas Church, Fauré's "Requiem" as well as "Seven Prayers" at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, and Mansurian's "Hymnus Navapet" at the Mendel Festival in Brno. He returns to the Zurich Opera House as Albert ("Werther") and Sonora ("La fanciulla del West").

Vladyslav Tlushch ­wurde in Ternopil (Ukraine) geboren und studierte von 2012 bis 2018 in Lwiw an der National Music Academy. 2017 debütierte er als Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro an der Oper von Lwiw. 2018 war er Preisträger des Ukrainischen Gesangswettbewerb für junge Sänger. Im gleichen Jahr war er Solist in der Orgelhalle von Lwiw. 2019 erhielt er im Finale des Klaudia Taey Wettbewerbs einen Spezialpreis für seine Interpretation von Schuberts Ave Maria. Er besuchte Meisterkurse bei Vladimir Chernov, Eytan Pessen und Olga Pasichnyk. 2019 war er Mitglied der Opernakademie am Teatr Wielki in Warschau, seit der Spielzeit 2019/20 gehört er zum internationalen Opernstudio in Zürich und singt hier in der Spielzeit 2020/21 Antonio in Il viaggio a Reims, Carlotto in Don Pasquale, Il maestro in Viva la Mamma sowie einen Deputati fiamminghi in Don Carlo.

Stanislav Vorobyov is from Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. Here, he has appeared in roles including Colline ("La bohème"), Alidoro ("La Cenerentola"), the High Priest ("Nabucco"), Reinmar von Zweter ("Tannhäuser"), Zaretsky ("Eugene Onegin"), Angelotti ("Tosca"), the Fifth Jew and First Nazarene ("Salome"), Lord Rochefort ("Anna Bolena"), Dottor Grenvil ("La traviata"), Crébillon ("La rondine"), Zuniga ("Carmen"), Roberto ("I vespri siciliani"), Roucher ("Andrea Chénier"), Marchese Calatrava ("La forza del destino"), Tom ("Un ballo in maschera"), as well as Faust ("Der feurige Engel") and Méphistophélès ("La Damnation de Faust"). Guest engagements have taken him to the Bregenz Festival as Don Basilio in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Uncle Bonzo in "Madama Butterfly", and Il capitano/L’ispettore in Giordano’s "Siberia", to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and Luxembourg as Nourabad in "Les Pêcheurs de perles", to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as Ombra di Nino in "Semiramide", and in 2024 as Colline in "La bohème" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and the ROHM Theatre Kyōto.

Brent Michael Smith is from the USA. He studied voice at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and the University of Northern Iowa, as well as piano at Hope College in Michigan. He won second prize at the Giargiari Belcanto Competition in 2018, third prize at the Concorso Lirico da Portofino in 2021 and was a finalist in the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in 2020. In the USA, he has sung, among other roles, Friedrich Bhaer ("Little Women"), Colline ("La bohème") and Ashby ("La fanciulla del West") at Detroit Opera, Ariodante ("Xerxes") at the Glimmerglass Festival, as well as Celio (Prokofiev’s "Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen") and Peter Quince ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream") at Opera Philadelphia. He has also appeared at the Santa Fe Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, among others. In 2025, he sang Frère Laurent ("Roméo et Juliette") at the Semperoper Dresden. In 2020/21, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera House. Since then, he has been a member of the ensemble and has appeared here, among other roles, as Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), Raimondo ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Prince Gremin ("Eugen Onegin"), Frère Laurent ("Roméo et Juliette"), Fafner ("Das Rheingold") and Angelotti ("Tosca"), the Attendant to Orest ("Elektra") and Jake Wallace ("La fanciulla del West").

Johan Krogius began his musical training in the boys’ choir of the Cantores Minores Cathedral Choir in Helsinki. He later studied in Helsinki and Stockholm, won the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition in 2021 and was awarded first prize at the Helsinki Lied Competition in the same year. In opera, he has sung roles including Jaquino ("Fidelio") and Pong ("Turandot") in Helsinki, First Man and Juhana in "The Last Temptations" at the Jyväskylä Opera, Don Ottavio ("Don Giovanni") at the Finnish National Opera, Kuska ("Chowanschtschina") with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen in Helsinki and Stockholm, as well as Tamino ("Die Zauberflöte") at the Tampere Opera and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he was also heard as Don Ottavio and Ismaele ("Nabucco") in 2024 and as Macduff ("Macbeth") in 2025. From 2022 to 2024, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at Staatsoper Berlin. There, he performed, among others, Leukippos (Strauss’ "Daphne"), Tamino, First Armoured Man and First Priest ("Die Zauberflöte"), Innkeeper and Faninal’s Major-Domo ("Der Rosenkavalier"), Trojan ("Idomeneo"), Parpignol ("La bohème") and Borsa ("Rigoletto"). On the concert platform, he has appeared with, among others, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and in 2024 made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie with Mozart’s "Requiem". Since the 2025/26 season, he has been a member of the ensemble at Zurich Opera House, where he has appeared, among other roles, in "Der Rosenkavalier", "Tosca" and "Carmen", and in the 2026/27 season performs in "Tannhäuser", "Die Fledermaus", "Das Rheingold", "La fanciulla del west" and "Die Zauberflöte".

Guram Margvelashvili is from Georgia. He completed his vocal studies at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire in 2024. From 2019 to 2023, he was a member of the Tbilisi Opera Studio, where he performed roles including the Priest and Papageno in "Die Zauberflöte", Valentin in Gounod’s "Faust", and the title roles in "Don Giovanni" and "Eugen Onegin". He also sang Belcore in Donizetti’s "L’elisir d’amore". Guram Margvelashvili received several scholarships and was a finalist in the Giuseppe Di Stefano International Singing Competition in Sicily and the Tamar Iveri International Singing Competition in Georgia. Since the 2025/26 season, Guram Margvelashvili has been a member of the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera House. In the 2026/27 season, he can be seen here, among other things, in Puccini’s "La rondine", Lehár’s "Die lustige Witwe", "La fanciulla del West", Verdi’s "Don Carlo" and "Angels in America".

Baritone Steffan Lloyd Owen is from Wales and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He received numerous singing awards, including the W. Towyn Roberts Scholarship Prize, the Blue Riband Osborne Roberts Memorial Prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Prize. In 2025, he won the Josep Palet Singing Competition and was a finalist at the Paris Opera Competition. He sang Sciarrone and the Jailer in a semi-staged "Tosca" alongside Sir Bryn Terfel and Kristine Opolais at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, Escamillo ("La tragédie de Carmen") at the Buxton International Festival, and Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte") at the Welsh National Opera. Concert highlights included Beethoven’s Mass in C major and "Choral Fantasy" with the BBC National Orchestra, Chorus of Wales, and the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Since the 2024/25 season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio, where he has sung, among other roles, the title role in "Gianni Schicchi".

Nathan Haller is from Canada and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York. In 2013, he took part in the International Meistersinger Academy in Neumarkt. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the OperAvenir opera studio at Theater Basel, where he sang, among other roles, Tamino ("The Magic Flute"), Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet") and Oronte ("Alcina"). In 2016, he appeared as a guest, among other engagements, as Belmonte ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") at the Acco 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, the Vienna Volksoper, Malmö Opera and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. On the concert platform, he has appeared, among other places, at the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall and in Handel’s "La Resurrezione" with William Christie. He made his debut at Zurich Opera House in 2018 in Schreker’s "Die Gezeichneten" and returned the following year as Albazar ("Il turco in Italia") and later in the title role of Mitterer’s "Das tapfere Schneiderlein". Since the 2021/22 season, Nathan Haller has been a member of the ensemble at Zurich Opera House. More recently, he has sung, among other roles, Mercure in Rameau’s "Platée", Gobin/Un giovane/Adolfo in Puccini’s "La rondine", Pong ("Turandot"), a Dancing Master ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), the role of 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"), Dr Blind ("Die Fledermaus") and a Young Servant ("Elektra"). He will also appear this season in the Swiss premiere of John Adams’ "Doctor Atomic".

Mexican tenor Rafael Rojas completed his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), where he was awarded the prestigious "International Artist Diploma" scholarship. Last season, he made his debut as Rafael in Christof Loy's new production of "El Gato Montés" at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. At the RNCM, he appeared as the Prince in the college's production of Prokofiev's "L'amour des Trois Oranges" and as the Schoolmaster in Janáček's "Das schlaue Füchslein". Forthcoming engagements include appearances at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Before his studies in Manchester, he was a member of the Mexican Opera Studio, where he appeared in Bizet's "Carmen", Massenet's "Manon", and a selection of Mexican operas by Melesio Morales, Carlos Jiménez Mabarak, and Daniel Catán. In 2022 and 2023, he won first prize at the Mexican Metropolitan Opera's regional Laffont Competition, and in 2022 he won first prize at the Carlo Morelli Zarzuela Competition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. In 2024, he performed at the Houston Grand Opera's "Concert of Arias", and in 2026 he was awarded second prize at the Clonter Opera Competition. Since this season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

Bass Bowen Ding is studying voice/opera at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover in the class of Prof. Marek Rzepka. In the 2026/27 season, he is a member of the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera House. Here, he takes on roles including Rabonnier in Puccini’s "La rondine", Pritschitsch in Lehár’s "Die lustige Witwe" and the Flemish Deputies in Verdi’s "Don Carlo". He can also be seen in "La fanciulla del west" and "Tosca".

Bass Theodore McAlindon graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied with Mark Wildman and Jonathan Papp. He began his career in the choir of Ely Cathedral and with the Opera North Youth Company, and attended masterclasses with, among others, Christopher Maltman, Simon Keenlyside, Matthew Rose, and Susan Bullock. At the Academy, he sang the Speaker/Second Armed Man in "Die Zauberflöte" as well as Azarias in "The Burning Fiery Furnace", and appeared in opera scenes as Bartolo in "Le nozze di Figaro", as Baculus in "Der Wildschütz", and as Falstaff in "Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor". He sang Benoît and Alcindoro in "La bohème" at the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute in Montreal under the direction of Etienne Dupuis. He has also covered Father Trulove in "The Rake's Progress" at the Grange Festival and sung in world premieres of contemporary operatic works at the Tête à Tête Festival. Since this season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio.

The Armenian bass Mikayel Sargsyan has appeared in recent years at the Armenian National Opera in Yerevan as well as in other international productions. His repertoire includes, among others, Dulcamara in Donizetti’s "L’elisir d’amore", Sarastro in Mozart’s "Die Zauberflöte", Colline in Puccini’s "La bohème", the Bonze in "Madama Butterfly" and the Forester in Janáček’s "Das schlaue Füchslein". From the 2026/27 season, he will be a member of the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera House, where he will appear in, among others, Puccini’s "La rondine", Verdi’s "La traviata", "La fanciulla del West", "Tosca" and "Don Carlo".

Evan Gray is a Swiss bass-baritone from Winterthur. He began his musical training as a treble in the Zurich Boys’ Choir and later transitioned to the bass vocal range. After his initial vocal studies at the Winterthur Conservatory, he went on to study at the renowned Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. His previous roles include the Forester ("Das schlaue Füchslein"), Figaro ("Le nozze di Figaro"), and Leporello ("Don Giovanni"). As an accomplished recital singer, he has performed Schubert’s "Winterreise" and Vaughan Williams’ "Songs of Travel" on multiple occasions and has worked with artists such as Julius Drake and Robert Holl. From 2023 to 2025, he was a guest at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he developed a close artistic relationship with pianist Mitsuko Uchida, who has invited him again for the 2026 summer edition. Since the 2025/26 season, Evan Gray has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

Salvador Villanueva is a Mexican tenor. He completed his vocal training at the Universidad de Sonora and subsequently at the Mexican Opera Studio, where he sang roles including Goro in "Madama Butterfly" and Remendado in "Carmen." In the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, he was a member of the Opera Studio at the Amsterdam Opera, performing roles such as Gastone ("La traviata"), Borsa ("Rigoletto"), the tenor role in Tom Johnson’s The Four Note Opera, and the Sailor ("Dido and Aeneas"). In 2024, he returned to Mexico to sing the title role in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Salvador Villanueva was a finalist in singing competitions in Mexico City and ’s-Hertogenbosch. He has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera House since the 2025/26 season.