Six baritones/basses in Moniuszko finals

Leon Kosavic in Round 2 of the Moniuszko Competition

Almost 40% of the finalists in the 2016 Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition will be basses and baritones. Advancing to Saturday's final round will be Polish bass Krzysztof Bączyk, Polish baritone Andrzej Filończyk, Ukrainian baritone Dmytro Kalmuchyn, Croatian baritone Leon Kosavic (who has been featured on this site), Ukrainian baritone Oleksandr Kyreiev and Moldavian baritone Adrian Timpau.

 In the final round Filończyk will perform the Death of Posa from Verdi's Don Carlo and Moniuszko's "Czemuż mnie w chwilach" from Halka, Bączyk will sing "Damit dich niemand war" from Weber's Der Freischütz and "Gdzie wielkość Polski?" from Szeligowski's Bunt żaków, Kalmuchyn will perform "Ah, per sempre" from Bellini's I puritani and "Czemuż mnie w chwilach" from Moniuszko's Halka, Kosavic will sing "Per me giunto" from Verdi's Don Carlo and "Nakaż niech ożywcze słonko" from Moniuszko's Verbum nobile, Kyreiev is also singing Moniuszko's "Czemuż mnie w chwilach" from Halka and Thomas' "O vin, dissipe la tristesse" from Hamlet, and Timpau is singing Racmaninov's "Ves tabor spit" from Aleko and Kúrpinski's "Śpiewka Nikity Dobrzem zrobił" from Zamek na Czorsztynie.

Krzysztof Bączyk and Andrzej Filończyk sing the I puritani duet:

Leon Kosavic sings Ah! Per sempre:

You can watch the finals HERE on Saturday, May 14 starting at 6 PM CEST (9 AM PST/NOON EST)

Other finalists include Polish mezzo Kinga Borowska, Georgian soprano Salome Jicia, Korean tenor Keon Woo Kim, Russian mezzo Iuliia Mennibaeva, Polish soprano Sylwia Olszyńska, Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orlińska, American soprano Jacqueline Piccolino, British tenor Adam Smith, Polish soprano Ewa Tracz and Polish soprano Joanna Zawartko.

Jason Duika returning to Palm Beach Opera

Jason Duika after a workout

American barihunk Jason Duika will be returning as a young artist with the Palm Beach Opera, where he will be singing the role of Dancaïre in Bizet's Carmen and covering Zachary Nelson as Escamillo. He'll also be  covering Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Harlequin in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. He'll also be featured in the family performance of Don Pasquale.

Regular readers will recall that Duika created a bit of a sensation when his shirtless pictures appeared on the site. 

Joining him at the Palm Beach Opera Young Artist Program will be fellow barihunk Andrew Bogard, who has also been featured on this site as one of our Reader Submissions. Hopefully, we'll be able to convince them to send us a photograph of them together. 

Jason Duika sings "Ah per sempre" from I Puritani:

This year's Opera on the Waterfront will be at the Meyer Amphitheatre on December 12th and usually features the PBO young artists, as well as star singers from the Palm Beach Opera. Their season runs from January 22-March 20 and tickets and cast information is available online. 

Along with fellow barihunk Samuel James Dewese, Duika is also a finalist in this year's James Toland Vocal Arts Competition at Holy Names University in Oakland, California on June 26 and 27. Tickets are available online.