Jakub Józef Orliński Will Make His Los Angeles Debut at The Broad Stage in March

The Broad Stage presents Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, who has quickly emerged as one of the most vibrant performers on the international classical music scene, triumphing on stage, in concert and on recording. He makes his Los Angeles and Broad Stage debut on March 10, 2022, at 7:30pm on the Main Stage with an eclectic program of baroque, romantic and 20th century songs.

The program includes H. Purcell: "Music for a while"; "If music be the food of love"; "Fairest Isle"; "Here the deities approve"; "Strike the viol". F. Schubert: "Auf der Donau"; "Die Stadt"; "Nachtstuck". G.F. Handel: "Un zeffiro spiro". C. Naginski: "Look down, Fair Moon". A. Copland: "The world feels dusty"; "Nature, the gentlest mother"; "Why do they shut me out of heaven". H. Purcell: "Your awful voice I hear".

He also sings a selection of Art songs from his native Poland: M. Karłowicz: - "Nie płacz nade mną"; "Z Erotyków"; "Na spokojnym, ciemnym morzu"; "Mów do mnie jeszcze"; "Przed nocą wieczną"; "W wieczorną cieszę"; "Czasem gdy długo na pół sennie marze"; "Zaczarowana królewna".

Tickets starting at $40 are available at thebroadstage.org or by calling 310.434.3200, or visiting the box office at 1310 11th St. Santa Monica CA 90401, beginning three hours prior to performance.

Orliński has had a remarkable year. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut at the end of 2021 in Eurydice, a new opera by Matthew Aucoin with libretto by playwright Sarah Ruhl, and in January, his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in Theodora. Last October, his Anima Aeterna, an adventurous album of sacred arias and motets from the 18th century was released; it follows in the vein of Anima Sacra, which garnered critical accolades and earned him the prestigious Opus Klassik award for Solo Vocal Recording. Another album, entitled Farewells and featuring exclusively the art songs of Polish composers, will be released this spring.

Gramophone in a cover article called him a countertenor for our times. "The joy of the voice is its suppleness, softness, something sustained through leaps and passages of coloratura." The Sunday Times praised "the unearthly beauty of Orliński's tone and fabulous breath control."

Orliński's sold-out concerts and recitals throughout Europe and the United States have attracted new followers to the art form, and his live performance of Vivaldi's "Vedrò con mio diletto," filmed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2017, has amassed more than eight million online views.

Television appearances, including the "Concert de Paris" at the Eiffel Tower and "Rebâtir Notre Dame de Paris," both with the Orchestre National de France and Les Victoires de la Musique Classique awards concert accompanied by the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon, have been broadcast to millions worldwide. He is also featured on Warner recordings of Agrippina opposite Joyce di Donato and on a disc of selections with L'Arpeggiata and harpist Christina Pluhar.

ABC News said, "And then there's Orliński, 31. As a countertenor -- the male voice with the highest range (think The Weekend) -- Orliński's usual musical choices trend older, as in 18th century, 100 years before what some might call the golden age of opera. But the hobby he is known for is nothing but modern: when he's not singing Baroque gems, Orliński break dances."

"In breaking, there is a lot of freedom. And you can really do the same move as 100 people, and you can do it 100 different ways," he told ABC News on a Zoom call from Warsaw. "I feel like you are becoming like a visual effect of the music you hear, which is really freeing, and sort of I treat it as a meditation."

In Gramophone, he said, "Some people think that singing is all about the head, chest, and throat, but it's the whole body that's responsible for what happens. I use breakdancing exercises because I like the energy flow. It's not easy to decide to become a countertenor... breaking helped me a lot to get that confidence, because when you're breaking you have physicality."

Rebecca Mead in The New Yorker said, "The singers who performed in operatic works by Handel or Vivaldi in the eighteenth century were the musical celebrities of their day, and Orliński's approach is to gleefully inhabit that space of stardom, rather than to handle the repertoire as if he were a reverent museum curator. 'I treat Baroque music as, basically, pop music, but in their time," he said. "I feel like Justin Timberlake sometimes. I feel fresh, and I feel kind of entertained by performing, and I want to have fun. I don't want it to be kind of stiff-'I'm going to sing some classical music and be serious right now.'"

Orliński graduated from the Juilliard School in 2017 and immediately began his international career as Orimeno in Cavalli's Erismena in his debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. He followed this with his role debut in the title role of Handel's Rinaldo at Oper Frankfurt in a stunning production by Ted Huffman. While still at Juilliard, he debuted with the Händel-Festspiele in Karlsruhe with music of Handel and Vivaldi; at Carnegie Hall in New York; as well as with the Houston Symphony. He also collaborated with Les Arts Florissants in Vivaldi's Stabat Mater conducted by Paul Agnew; performed with Music of the Baroque in Chicago under Jane Glover; and on tour with the English Concert under Harry Bicket as Eustazio in Rinaldo with performances in London, Seville, Madrid, and New York. Another production of Rinaldo - again in the title role - served as his United Kingdom operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival. He performed Unulfo in Rodelinda in both Frankfurt and Lille (DVD with Emmanuelle Haïm), and has performed concerts with numerous groups throughout Europe and the U.S.

In the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Orliński joined Il Pomo d'Oro for concerts in Hamburg, Essen, Budapest, Trento, and Lyon, featuring selections from his critically acclaimed album Facce d'amore. He later rejoined the ensemble for additional performances, including at Versailles, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and the Festival Castell de Peralada. Other concert engagements included a Baroque program with Il Giardino d'Amore in Barcelona, Bilbao, Castellón, and Madrid; a program entitled Pasticcio with Les Arts Florissants, alongside mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and led by William Christie; and performances in Poland, with Capella Cracoviensis. He also reunited with pianist Michał Biel for recitals in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Highlights of previous seasons include his Carnegie Hall solo concert debut featuring members of New York Baroque Incorporated; his American operatic debut at San Francisco Opera as Armindo in Partenope; his house and role debut at Opernhaus Zürich singing Cyrus in Belshazzar under the baton of Laurence Cummings; his debut in Russia with sold-out concerts during the inaugural season of Zaryadye Hall in Moscow; and debuts with the Warsaw Philharmonic in Handel's Messiah and with the Montreal Bach Festival. He has performed critically-lauded solo recitals at Wigmore Hall, Verbier Festival, and throughout Spain, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Mr. Orliński has triumphed in multiple vocal competitions, winning first place at the Oratorio Society of New York's 2016 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition, second prize in the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition, the first and second annual International Early Music Vocal Competitions in Poland, where he received "Special Mention" and "Special Prize", respectively, first prize at Rudolf Petrák's Singing Competition in Slovakia, third place at the Debut Competition in Igersheim, Germany, Special Mention at the Eighth Annual Mazovian Golden Voices Competition in Poland, and third place at Le Grand Prix de l'Opera in Bucharest, Romania. Mr. Orliński's star rose rapidly following major competition wins on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2016 and the Marcella Sembrich International Vocal Competition in 2015.

While completing his Master's degree in vocal performance studying with Anna Radziejewska at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, he participated in the prestigious young artist program Opera Academy in Teatr Wielki-Opera Narodowa, where he studied with Eytan Pessen and Matthias Rexroth. Mr. Orliński earned his Graduate Diploma at The Juilliard School, studying with Edith Wiens. He was also a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship in the years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017.

His achievements in breakdancing include prizes in many dance competitions: fourth place at the Red Bull BC One Poland Cypher competition, second place on the Stylish Strike - Top Rock Contest and second place at The Style Control competition, among others. He has also been featured in a commercial for the street wear company CROPP, as well as featured as a dancer, model, and acrobat in campaigns for Levi's, Nike, Turbokolor, Samsung, Mercedes-Benz, MAC Cosmetics, Dannon, and Algida.

Michał Biel is a young Polish pianist whose collaborations have already brought him to some of the world's eminent concert halls including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. He has also played recitals at opera houses such as Oper Frankfurt, Opéra de Lille, and Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera. He regularly collaborates with countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, and together they have performed at such prestigious festivals as Verbier Festival, Life Victoria Barcelona, and Pierre Cardin's Festival de Lacoste, and their work has been broadcast by Medici TV, BBC3, Wigmore Hall, and TVP Kultura.

In partnership with bass Alex Rosen, Michał won 2nd Prize at the 2018 Hugo Wolf International Art Song Competition in Stuttgart and together they are laureates of the Academy Orsay-Royaumont. Michał's other prizes include Outstanding Young Pianist at the Stanisław Moniuszko International Singing Competition in Warsaw, Best Young Accompanist at Le Grand Prix de l'Opéra in Bucharest, and awards for Outstanding Accompaniment at L. Różycki Vocal Competition in Gliwice.

Michał maintains residencies as a collaborative pianist at the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt and the Juilliard School Vocal Arts Department in New York City. He also coaches singers at the Chautauqua Institution School of Music Voice Program. Invested in collaborating with singers since the beginning of his career, Michał has worked at the Winter Singing Course in Duszniki Zdrój and the Wratislavia Cantans Festival.

Michał studied at the Juilliard School where he was taught by Brian Zeger, Margo Garrett, Jonathan Feldman, and J.J. Penna. He studied with Eytan Pessen at Teatr Wielki's Opera Academy in Warsaw, and with Andrzej Jasiński and Grzegorz Biegas at The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland.

To post a comment, you must register and login.