Marek Žihla

Biography

Tenor Marek Žihla made his debut at the National Theatre Opera as Peter in the production LouTkáček (Tuttifäntchen, 2023).

He studied classical singing with Zbyněk Brabec at the Prague Conservatory and is currently under the artistic guidance of mezzo-soprano Markéta Cukrová. Since the 2021/22 season, he has been a regular guest at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Pilsen, where he has appeared as Evandro in Gluck’s Alceste, the Governor, Ragotski, and Vanderdendur in Bernstein’s Candide, Lindoro in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, and in the title role of Emperor Titus in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. During the same season, he made his debut at the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice in Handel’s Messiah, a performance that earned him a nomination for the South Bohemian Thalia Award. He subsequently appeared there as the First Armed Man and Priest in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, the First Philistine and Messenger in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, the tenor solo in a staged version of Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass, and as the Priest in a staged production of Michna’s Loutna česká. At the Moravian Theatre Olomouc, he made his debut as Titus (La clemenza di Tito) and performed Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail. In the 2023/24 season, he debuted at the Estates Theatre as Péťa in the opera LouTkáček (Tuttifäntchen), later returning there as Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos, while also making his debut at the State Opera as a Page in Wagner’s Parsifal. In the 2024/25 season, he made his debuts at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre as the Itinerant Quack Šereda in Pavel Haas’s The Charlatan, and at the National Theatre Brno as Don Curzio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro—a co-production with Collegium 1704 and the Théâtre de Caen. He is a laureate of prominent singing competitions. In 2019, he became the overall winner of the Bohuslav Martinů Song Competition, receiving both the Zora Jehličková Award and the Artist's Life Foundation Award. That same year, he won First Prize in the Opera Prospects category at the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary, where he later earned Second Prize in the Song category in 2023.