Oleksandr Pušnjak

Biography

Ukrainian bass-baritone Oleksandr Pushniak made his debut at the National Theatre Opera on May 11, 2024, as Scarpia (Tosca at the State Opera). Born in Kyiv, he graduated from the National Music Academy in 2007. In 2012, he won the 7th Bayreuth Singing Competition and in 2010 completed a two-year the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Washington National Opera, where he appeared in several roles including Polonius (Hamlet) in Thaddeus Strassberger's production conducted by Plácido Domingo. In 2013, he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in the role of Donner (Das Rheingold). From 2018 to 2024, he was engaged at the German National Theatre in Weimar. Since September 2024, he has been a soloist at the Semperoper Dresden, where he made his debut in spring 2024 as Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten) and the Monk (Don Carlo). He has appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Amonasro, Aida), the Kiel Theatre (title role in King Roger), the Erfurt Theatre and Singapore (title role in Der fliegende Holländer), among others. At the Müpa Palace of Arts in Budapest, he appeared as Baleso in Franz Liszt's reconstructed opera Sardanapalo; in this role he also participated in its world premiere on August 19, 2018 in Weimar performed by the Staatskapelle Weimar under the baton of Kirill Karabits.