Wojtek Śmiłek studied solo singing in Kraków and Paris, while perfecting his technique during a range of master classes. In 1992 he won the International Vincenzo Bellini Singing Competition (Sicily). He made his professional debut at the Festival de Radio France in Montpellier. His first roles included Jorgo in Verdi's Stifelio, Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky's Onegin, and Frère Laurent in Gounod's Romeo and Juliet at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie.
He regularly performs on the stages of the opera houses of Geneva, Liege, Brussels, Strasbourg, Nantes, Bordeaux, Avignon, Monte Carlo, and Marseille, as well as the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Opéra Bastille, and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, singing in Verdi's Macbeth, Il trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino, Nabucco, The Sicilian vespers, Aida, Luisa Miller, Don Carlos, Rigoletto; Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Maria Stuarta, La favorita; Bellini's Norma; Puccini's Turandot; Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots; Reyer's Salammbô; Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, The Maid of Orleans; and Gounod's Faust.
He has collaborated with such conductors as Fabio Luisi, Vladimir Jurovski, Marc Minkowski, Pinchas Steinberg, Michel Plasson, Evelino Pidò, Maurizio Bellini, James Conlon, Marcello Viotti, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Oren, Gianandrea Noseda, Gabriel Chmura.
He has performed at renowned music festivals, including the Festival de Radio France, Montpellier; Festival Choregies Oranges; Festival de Carcassonne; and Festival International d’Art Lyrique, Aix-en-Provence. The productions in which he participates are broadcast or the radio and television. His future plans include Adrianna Lecouvreur in the Opéra Bastille and Simon Boccanegra in Avignon.
(photo: R. Kornecki)
