SINGING 1996 : Laureate
French bass-baritone Paul Gay studied with Robert Dumé and Kurt Moll. He has established himself as a very reliable artist on important european scenes and festivals. His even and well conducted voice, his perfect legato, and his abilities to vocalize makes him an ideal interpret for belcanto. His voice's range and power allow him to sing some dramatic roles like Golaud, Amfortas, or Gounod"s Mephisto.
In 2006 Paul Gay made a successful debut at the Bastille Opera in Martinus Juliette and his Wagner debut as Klingsor in Parsifal at the Frankfurt Oper which received unanimous critical acclaim. In 2007, he was Kolenaty in The Makopoulos Case at the Bastile, in Toulouse for Le Roi d'Ys from Lalo, and Toulon for Friar Laurence (Roméo et Juliette-Gounod). He just sang Gounod's Mephisto in Bordeaux and Yvonne, a world Premiere from Ph. Boesmans at the Bastille Opera, Vienna and Brussels with great success as well as a new production of Lulu (Athlete) staged by P.Stein at the Opéra de Lyon. In 2010 he was Harasta and Mr Flint in Billy budd at the Bastille, Escamillo in Toronto and Bordeaux, Henry VIII in Anna Bolena in Frankfurt .
2011 will see him in Munich's Staatsoper for the title role of Saint Francois d'Assises from Messiaen as well as Don Estoban in der Zwerg from Zemlinsky, Paris for Gounod's Mephisto and Des Grieux in Manon and Avignon for Le Dialogue des Carmelites and Thaïs from Massenet(for details, see the Calendar). Further Projects will lead him to Brussels and Frankfurt for Golaud in Pelleas et Mélisande, Glyndebourne for Inigo in L'Heure Espagnole, Munich and Paris for Capuletti e Montecchi from Bellini...
Paul Gay started his career being a company principal in Osnabrück, Germany, where he built a consequent major roles repertoire including Don Quichotte, Don Giovanni, Figaro, Kecal, Colline... In those years, he had the opportunity of many guest appearances in houses like Hannover, Munster, or Detmold. From 2000 to 2003, he was invited for a residence contract at the Opéra de Lyon where he sang in 14 productions, roles like Alidoro, Collatinus, Rangoni or Colline, which he also sings in Genève conducted by Louis Langrée. In 2003 he was invited in Bern for the title role of Don Giovanni. In 2004, the Opera de Lyon contracted him as a guest for his widely acclaimed debut as Golaud, he also appeared in in the 2004 Glyndebourne summer Festival as Garibaldo in Haendel's Rodelinda. In 2005, he sang the athlete in Lulu at the Opéra National du Rhin and performed Fauré's Requiem with the Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by Graeme Jenkins.
Paul Gay worked under the direction of such conductors as Ivan Fischer, Christian Badea, William Christie, Maurizio Benini, Philippe Jordan, Jiri Behlohlavèc, Semyon Bychkov, Yves Abel, Evelino Pido, Emmanuelle Haïm, Michael Schonwandt, Vladimir Fedosseyev, Gunther Herbig, Paolo Carignani, and directors such as Willy Decker, Luc Bondy, Peter Stein, Nicolas Joel, Richard Jones, Jean-Marie Villegier,Graham Vick, Philip Himmelman, he appeared in concert performances with the Orchestre national de Lyon, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Orchestre National de France, the Moscow radio Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Les Arts Florissants.