+++
date = "2015-04-12T18:58:00-04:00"
discipline = "Bass"
lastmod = "2015-04-12T18:58:00-04:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1428879235084/bob_edit_8_forprintsharpercolourcrop.jpg.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Adrian Parks"
publishDate = "2015-04-12T18:58:00-04:00"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/canadian-opera-company.md", "scene/companies/the-metropolitan-opera.md", "scene/companies/houston-grand-opera.md", "scene/companies/the-santa-fe-opera.md", "scene/companies/san-francisco-opera.md", "scene/companies/curtis-institute-of-music.md"]
slug = "robert-pomakov"
title = "Robert Pomakov"

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In the 2018-2019 season, Canadian bass Robert Pomakov will make role debuts Nourabad in _Les Pêcheurs de Perles_ at Santa Fe Opera, and Méphistophélès in _Faust_ for his house debut with Vancouver Opera. He will return to Oper Frankfurt to sing King René in a new production of _Iolanta_ directed by Lydia Steier and to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise the role of Monterone in _Rigoletto_. Concert performances of the 2018-2019 season will include his debut with the Victoria Symphony, singing König Heinrich in Act III of _Lohengrin_.

In the 2017-18 season, Mr. Pomakov returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Luther and Crespel in _Les Contes d’Hoffmann_ and Bonze in _Madama Butterfly_, and to cover Wurm in _Luisa Miller_. He also returned to the Canadian Opera Company to sing Monterone in _Rigoletto_ and to cover Osmin in _Die Entführung aus dem Serail_, as well as to Oper Frankfurt to sing Oroveso in a new Christof Loy production of _Norma_.

Mr. Pomakov made his Metropolitan Opera house debut as Monterone in Michael Mayer’s new staging of _Rigoletto_ in a production that was seen live in HD in cinemas around the world.  He has also appeared at the MET as Don Basilio in Bartlett Sher’s production of _The Barber of Seville_ and as Mathieu in _Andrea Chénier_ opposite Patricia Racette and Marcelo Álvarez; he also sang in _Manon_ with Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo, in productions of _Le Nozze di Figaro_ conducted by James Levine, and in roles in both _Don Carlo_ and _Les Contes d’Hoffmann_, as well as covered the title role in Verdi’s _Attila_ in a new production by Pierre Audi conducted by Riccardo Muti.  

Highlights of past seasons included performances with the Canadian Opera Company as Alberich in Wagner’s _Götterdämmerung_, Bartolo in _Le nozze di Figaro_, Hobson in Britten’s _Peter Grimes_ opposite Ben Heppner, and Chamberlain in _Le Rossignol_, in addition to company and role debuts Oper Frankfurt as Yevgeny Gremin in a new production of Tchaikovsky’s _Onegin_, Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Vodník in _Rusalka_ and Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Banquo in _Macbeth_.  Houston Grand Opera has welcomed him for numerous appearances including the Second SS Officer in Weinberg's _The Passenger_, in a co-production with the Lincoln Center Festival, Monterone in _Rigoletto_, Benoit in a new production of _La Bohème_, and Haly in a new production of _L'italiana in Algeri_.  He debuted with Santa Fe Opera as Monterone in _Rigoletto_ and in the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon’s _Cold Mountain_, as well as covering Jochanaan in Strauss’ _Salome_.  Mr. Pomakov made is company debut with San Francisco Opera as Monterone, and later returned to sing Mathieu in _Andrea Chénier_, in a production by Sir David McVicar, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Other appearances include successful debuts with Opéra National de Paris as Monterone in _Rigoletto_, Washington Opera as Leporello in _Don Giovanni_ in a new production conducted by Plácido Domingo, Teatro Real as Nikitich in _Boris Godunov_ opposite Samuel Ramey, and Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels as Varlaam in _Boris Godunov_.

Notable concert performances of past seasons include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Sioux City Symphony, Mozart’s _Requiem_ with the Elora Festival in Ontario, his Ravinia Festival debut in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy conducted by James Conlon, the role of Virgil in Rachmaninov's Francesca da Rimini and the Hector Berlioz version of _Der Freischütz_ both under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, a concert with Dmitri Hvorostvsky at the Canadian Opera Company, the Roy Thomson Hall Millennium Opera Gala with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (released on CBC Records), Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14 with the Canadian Opera Company, a European tour of Handel's _Apollo e Dafne_ (Released on Naxos Records), his Concertgebouw debut with the European Union Baroque Orchestra, Schubert’s _Fierrabras_ with the Bard Music Festival and performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.  He was the bass soloist in performances of Mozart’s _Requiem_ with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières and Phoenix Symphony conducted by music director Tito Muñoz. Mr. Pomakov has performed Handel’s Messiah with both the North Carolina and Phoenix Symphonies.  He appeared with the Calgary Philharmonic and at the Elora Festival in performances of the Verdi _Requiem_, and sang his first König Heinrich in a concert version of Wagner’s _Lohengrin_ with Le Festival de Lanaudière conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.  

Recital credits include two recitals at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio one of which was broadcast by the CBC.

Mr. Pomakov has been a prize winner in several of the world's premier singing competitions: a finalist in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium, second place at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna and third place in Plácido Domingo's Operalia.  Mr. Pomakov was decorated with the Simeon, the First Honorary Medal from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, and with a diploma from the Minister of Culture for his achievements in opera's art and special merit to Bulgarian culture and its dissemination all over the world, an encouragement award in the George London Foundation Competition, an world. Other prizes have included first prize in the Oratorio Society of New York's completion, an award from the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, the Victoria Scholars Grant, Second Prize in the Canadian Music Competition, and First Prize in the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto.  Pomakov is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.