SONG & ARIA EVENING WITH THOMAS ESSL, BARITONE
The Austrian baritone Thomas Essl was at the Graz Opera in the 2021/2022 season as Halit in the premiere of Sinan Sanamli's opera The Patron Saint of Liars and as Lazar Wolf in Jerry Bock's musical Anatevka, at the Stadttheater Leoben as Eisenstein in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, at the Lied Festival in Würzburg with Schubert's Swan Song and at the Austrian Opera Festival Oper Burg Gars as Dancairo in Bizet's Carmen. Previous engagements include gala concerts in Riga, A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms in Graz, the role of Krušina in Smetana's The Bartered Bride at the Graz Opera and Schumann's Töpferliebe again at the Lied Festival in Würzburg. In previous years he was a prizewinner in the Future Voices competition organized by Elīna Garanča, sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Scherasmin in Oberon under the musical direction of Oksana Lyniv, the host in Die Königskinder and Frank in Die Fledermaus at the Graz Opera, Don Giovanni at the Ring Award at the Graz Schauspielhaus and Graf Hanschmann in Lehár's The Blue Mazur at the Baden City Theater. In October 2022 he appeared as Méphistophélès in La damnation de Faust by Berlioz at the Great Amber Hall in Liepāja/Latvia. In 2018, Thomas Essl was a prize winner at the Nico Dostal Operetta Competition and the Academia Vocalis in Wörgl. With great success he regularly appears on the concert stage as a lieder singer and with masses and oratorios, among other things. by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms or Carl Orff.
Born in Leoben and raised in Trofaiach, Thomas Essl studied trumpet and jazz piano in Graz. He received his singing training in Graz with Susanne Kopeinig and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Karlheinz Hanser. He attended master classes with KS Brigitte Fassbaender, Thomas Hampson, KS Christa Ludwig, Thomas Quasthoff and KS Krassimira Stoyanova, and received acting lessons from Chris Pichler.
After introducing himself as a resident guest at the Chemnitz Theater in the 2022/2023 season with roles such as Escamillo, Peter Besenbinder and Wozzeck, Thomas Essl has been a permanent member of the ensemble at the Chemnitz Opera since 2023/2024.
