Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko, called “a compelling central force” by the Financial Times is enjoying a varied, international career at 39 years old. In the 26/27 season, Mr. Bondarenko will join Staatsoper Hamburg as the title role in Eugene Onegin, a new production conducted by Omer Meir Wellber. Also in Hamburg, he will sing Marcello in La bohème, Escamillo in Carmen, and Giorgio Germont in La traviata. At Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, he will sing the role of Vitaly in the world-premiere of George Brant and Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets Mother’s of Kherson, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson. Finally, in concert he will present a solo recital of Eastern European song with Malcolm Martineau at Wigmore Hall, and Sofia Gubaidulina’s oratorio Über Liebe und Hass with Omer Meir Wellber and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie.
A frequent guest artist at some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, Andrei Bondarenko has sung many performances as the title role in Eugene Onegin (Opera Australia, Deutsche Oper Berlin, The Dallas Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, NCPA (Beijing), Staatstheater Stuttgart, Israeli Opera, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Oper Köln, Vilnius City Opera), Heerrufer in Lohengrin (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma), Giorgio Germont (Deutsche Oper Berlin, Volksoper Wien, Komische Oper Berlin), Escamillo (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Lithuanian National Opera), Michele and Gianni Schicchi in Il trittico (Lithuanian National Opera), Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde (Teatro Massimo di Palermo), Malatesta in Don Pasquale (Opernhaus Zürich, Glyndebourne Festival), the title role in Don Giovanni (Glyndebourne Festival, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro Verdi di Padova, Palm Beach Opera), Conte in Le nozze di Figaro (Teatro Real, Opera Australia, Staatsoper Hamburg, Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theater, Perm Opera), Marcello in La bohème (Opernhaus Zürich, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival, Oper Köln), Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (Opernhaus Zürich, Oper Köln, Glyndebourne Festival), Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (Mariinsky Theater), Robert in Iolanta (Oper Köln, The Dallas Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna), Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore (Bayerische Staatsoper, Israeli Opera, Oper im Steinbruch), Dandini in La Cenerentola (Oper Köln) Albert in Werther (Opernhaus Zürich), the title role in Billy Budd (Mikhailovsky Theater) and Rodrigo in Don Carlo (Semperoper Dresden).
Andrei Bondarenko’s conductor and director relationships include Valery Gergiev, Ivor Bolton, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vasily Petrenko, Enrique Mazzola, Kirill Karabits, Teodor Currentzis, Emanuelle Villaume , Omer Meir Wellber, Oksana Lyniv, Alain Altinoglu, Daniele Callegari, Lorenzo Viotti, Stefano Ranzani, Kent Nagano, Giacomo Sagripanti, Giampaolo Bisanti, Nick Carter, Ivan Repušic, Dmitry Kitajenko, Evan Rogister, Cornelius Meister, David McVicar, Harry Kupfer, Grischa Asagaroff, Graham Vick, David Bösch, Tatjana Gürbaca, Lotte de Beer, Mariame Clement, Stefan Herheim, Dmitry Serebrennikov and Michael Sturminger.
Born in Kamenez-Podolsky, Ukraine, Andrei Bondarenko was a soloist in the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers for 8 years. In 2003 he entered the vocal department of the National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in Kiev, Ukraine and in 2004 was admitted to the vocal department of the Kiev Conservatory. He was a prize-winner at the 2006 International Rimsky-Korsakov vocal competition in St. Petersburg, the 2008 all-Russian Nadezhda Obukhova Young Vocalists ́ Festival and Competition, and the 7th International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition in 2010. Mr. Bondarenko took part in the Salzburg Festival Young Singers Project, returning to the Festival for Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Yannick Nézet-Seguin and Le rossignol with Ivor Bolton. Notably, in 2011, he won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition Song Prize, was awarded a diploma at the Ukrainian competition "New Ukrainian Voices” and won first prize at the international vocal competition "Art in the 21st Century" in Vorzel (Ukraine). Andrei has recorded Le nozze di Figaro (Conte) for Sony Classics, Rachmaninov songs with Iain Burnside at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh for Delphian Records as well as the highly acclaimed Lieutenant Kijé Suite on the BIS label. He resides in Vienna with his wife and child.
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