Reader Submission: Şzymon Komasa

Polish Barihunk Şzymon Komasa

Our latest reader submission is Şzymon Komasa, who took part in a master class at Julliard on October 4th with Joyce DiDonato. He caught the attention of our reader during the live online webstream of the master class. Renee Fleming and Eric Owens will be featured in upcoming master classes, so check the school's online schedule.

Şzymon Komasa was born in Poznań and studied at the Academy of Music in Łódź, from which he
graduated with honors in 2009 in both cello and vocal studies. Komasa comes from a very artistic family. His mother Gina was a singer, his father Wieslaw is a famous Polish actor, his brother Jan is a director, his sister Mary is a lead singer of a band and his youngest sister Sophie is a stylist. Jan Komasa directed him in Sala samobójców (Suicide Room), which was also written by his brother. 

He studied opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before becoming a student of Edith Wiens at Juilliard’s Artist Diploma program in Opera Studies.. In 2011, he represented Poland in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, but fell ill and had to withdraw before the finals. 

Şzymon Komasa

He has won awards in international singing competitions, including the Best Wagner Singer at the 7th Annual Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in Dublin in January of this year. He previously took third prize at the Ada Sari Vocal Art Competition in Nowy Sącz in Poland, first prize at the Puccini International Singing Competition in Verona and first prize at the Halina Halska-Fijałkowska Vocal Competition in Wrocław. 

Şzymon's opera performances include Slook in Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, all at Teatr Wielki in Łódź, and Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème at Teatro Filharmonico in Verona. His repertoire also includes Mityukha Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.  This summer, he sang Albert in Halevy's La Juive in Dresden.

You can watch him HERE during an appearance on a Polish morning TV show. 

Reader Submission: Benjamin Appl

Benjamin Appl

German barihunk Benjamin Appl recently caught the eye of a reader while performing in the Guildhall School of Music's production of Britten's Owen Wingrave. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who found Appl both vocally stunning and visually attractive. The review in Bachtrack stated, "As Owen, Benjamin Appl’s voice was clear and strong, and he’d certainly be employed by Abercrombie and Fitch..."

ClassicalSource.com described him as "tall, blond and in Prince William mould." Even the oft staid Financial Times wrote, "Benjamin Appl’s Owen makes a handsome, quietly composed centrepiece."

It's been a busy year for the young singer, who in addition to Owen Wingrave has performed as Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet's Le portrait de Manon, Conte Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. He made his professional debut with the Berlin Philharmonic singing lieder by Mahler at the Ravinia Festival, as well as at the International Festival Heidelberger Frühling singing Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, followed by his debut at Rheingau Musik Festival with Wolf's Italian Songbook.

A set of lieder from Benjamin Appl: 

Before studying at Guildhall, he received his musical training with the Regensburger Domspatzen. He studied with Edith Wiens and Helmut Deutsch at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich as well as at the Bayerische Theaterakademie.

In 2002, Benjamin Appl was awarded a Special Prize by the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation for his outstanding interpretation of 20th Century works. In 2003 , he was a prize winner of the "Bundeswettbewerb Jugend musiziert." In 2012, he was awarded the Schubert Prize by the Deutsche Schubert - Gesellschaft.

Reader Submission: Martin Häßler

We're not sure what is going on with our reader submissions, but they seem to either be coming from Germany or recommending German singers (which is fine by us!). The latest is Martin Häßler who began is vocal training at the Hochschule für Musik Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in Leipzig, Germany. He is currently studying as a full scholarship awardee at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

He has done well at numerous singing competitions including the Thomas Quasthoff's Das Lied, International Song competition, taking first prize at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang Berlin, and winning the Best Singer's Award at the Gerald Moore Competition London.



Martin Häßler, Bariton, 21 Jahre from Bundeswettbewerb Gesang Berlin on Vimeo.


The 24-year-old singer has been making his mark as a recitalist having performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, at Deutsche Oper Berlin accompanied by Philip Moll, at Schloss Herten with Graham Johnson, at the Oxford Lieder Festival, at LSO St. Luke's London, the Vienna Musikverein with Marek Ruszczynski, and at the Schubert Festival accompanied again by Graham Johnson.

On June 21, he'll be making his Wigmore Hall recital debut performing the works of Schubert, Wolf, Mussorgsky and Finzi. Tickets are available online.

Cast Change: Jeremy Carpenter replaces Peter Coleman-Wright in ROH's Gloriana

Jeremy Carpenter

Australian baritone Peter Coleman-Wright has withdrawn from singing the role of Sir Robert Cecil for all performances of Britten's Gloriana. The role will now be sung by British baritone Jeremy Carpenter, marking his debut with The Royal Opera.

Jeremy Carpenter studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under the tutelage of Ellis Keeler, Rudolf Piernay and David Pollard. He began the 2010/2011 season singing the role of Gérard in Andrea Chénier at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm with tremendous critical acclaim, followed by Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with the Angers Nantes Opéra. The last season included Escamillo in Carmen at the Royal Swedish Opera, followed by the same role at the Malmö Opera. During the current season he has returned to the Royal Swedish Opera for Carmen and sang Talpa in concert performances of Puccini's Il tabarro with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Harding. During the current spring he appears as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Grand Théâtre de Genève followed by Sir Robert Cecil in Britten's Gloriana at the ROH Covent Garden.

Tickets for Richard Jones’s new production of Gloriana went on sale last week and are available online. The production stars soprano Susan Bullock and tenor Toby Spence. Performances run from June 20th– July 6th.

Reader Submission: Ed Ballard

Ed Ballard

Ed Ballard, our latest reader submission, is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The London born singer is a former chorister who went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and later received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Philosphy in History from Clare College, Cambridge.

He has performed numerous choral works throughout the U.K. including Bach's St Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Fauré's Reqiuem, Duruflé's Reqiuem and Howells Reqiuem, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Theresiennemesse, Finzi's In Terra Pax and Stainer's Crucifixion.

His operatic roles include Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Edinburgh and Guglielmo in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte in Cambridge, Death in Holst’s Savitri and Louis in The Wandering Scholar at the Grimeborn Opera Festival, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Dartington International Summer School and Mother/Brother in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins in Cambridge  with the Carmen Elektra Underground Opera.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Introducing Ivan Ludlow

Ivan Ludlow in Les Mamelles de Tirésias (L) and Don Giovanni (R)

Anyone who followed us in 2010 knows that the hottest opera that we featured was Poulenc's "Les Mamelles de Tirésias" with barihunk Gabriel Bermudez. We subsequently featured Troy Cook in the same opera and now along comes Ivan Ludlow from a production at Opéra de Lyon. Although he doesn't perform the "Full Okulitch" like Bermudez, Ludlow is still extremely sexy in this increasingly popular opera.

Ludlow studied at the Guildhall School of Music and the National Opera Studio. In addition to performing with some of the leading opera companies in Europe, he is a founding member of the London Bridge Ensemble. His repertory stretches from Cavalli to Maxwell-Davies, with a good deal of Britten and Mozart.



Here is Ludlow performing Schumann's Liederkreis with the London Bridge Ensemble:



Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com