Robert Pomakov
basse | Canada, °1981
Canadian bass Robert Pomakov has earned critical acclaim for his unique voice and musicianship in opera, concert and recital. During the 2011-12 season, he will participate in two Canadian Opera Company productions as the Old Servant in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride opposite Susan Graham and Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto under the direction of Christopher Alden. He debuts with the Opera de Montréal as Vodnik in Dvořák’s Rusalka and with Los Angeles Opera as Pietro in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra opposite Plácido Domingo in the title role. He returns to Los Angeles later in the season as Colline in La Bohème under the baton of Patrick Summers. He also sings Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca with Opera Lyra Ottawa. Concert engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Toronto Symphony under Peter Oundjian and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Kansas City Symphony.
Highlights of past seasons include performances with the Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Teatro Real, La Monnaie, among others. Notable appearances include his Washington Opera debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni in a new production conducted by Plácido Domingo, his debut at the Teatro Real as Nikitich in Boris Godunov conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos and opposite Samuel Ramey, a repeat of Varlaam for his debut at La Monnaie in Brussels, the role of the Chamberlain in a new production of Le Rossignol by visionary director Robert Lepage in a co-production with the Canadian Opera Company and Brooklyn Academy of Music and a joining of the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for the title role of a new production of Verdi’s Attila by Pierre Audi conducted by Riccardo Muti.
In addition to his staged opera performances, Robert Pomakov has also performed with a number of concert organizations such as Le Festival de Lanaudière, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival, Pacific Symphony, among others. Notable concert performances of past seasons include 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 all under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, his Canadian Opera Company debut in a concert with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, 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 and performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Robert Pomakov recital credits include two recitals at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio one of which was broadcast by the CBC.
Robert Pomakov has been a prizewinner in several of the world's premier singing competitions: second place at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna and third place in Plácido Domingo's Operalia. In September 2006, he 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. Other prizes have included first prize in the 2000 Oratorio Society of New York's solo competition, an encouragement award in the 2000 George London Foundation Competition, an encouragement award from the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, the 1999 Victoria Scholars Grant, Second Prize in the 1998 Canadian Music Competition and First Prize in the 1997 Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto. Robert Pomakov is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.