Jakub Józef Orliński (; born 8 December 1990) is a Polish operatic

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist ( ...

singer and breakdancer. He has performed leading roles with many opera companies, including Carnegie Hall,

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, Warsaw Grand Theatre and

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's '' Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Fred ...

. He is the recipient of numerous international awards including the

Gramophone Classical Music Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refe ...

(2019), International Opera Award (2021) and International Classical Music Award (2022).

Education and career

He was born in 1990 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

. After singing in a choir as a child, as a teenager Orliński joined a nine-member male vocal group and was chosen to sing countertenor parts in some

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the T ...

. He also became a fan of

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1 ...

, who inspired him to take his interest in the genre further. He began his music career in the male choir Gregorianum led by Berenika Jozajtis, with which he performed both in Poland and abroad. He is a graduate of the

Fryderyk Chopin University of Music The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.

. During his studies he participated in a number of performances organized by the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art. Since 2012, he has been a member of the Opera Academy of the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, and from 2015 to 2017 he studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

with Edith Wiens. In Poland, he performed the roles of Cupid in '' Venus and Adonis'' by Blow and Narciso in ''

Agrippina Agrippina is an ancient Roman cognomen and a feminine given name. People with either the cognomen or the given name include: Cognomen Relatives of the Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa: * Vipsania Agrippina (36 BC–20 AD), first wife of th ...

'' by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his train ...

. During his stay in Germany, he performed the role of Ruggiero in Handel's ''

Alcina ''Alcina'' ( HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during his travels in Italy. ...

'' in Aachen and

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...

, and performed selected songs by

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

at the Leipzig Opera. He has performed in Carnegie Hall as well as

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in New York and met with positive critical reviews from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. His performances included Handel's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'' in cooperation with

Musica Sacra ''Musica sacra'' is a magazine about sacred music, published by the Allgemeiner Cäcilien-Verband für Deutschland (ACV). It is the oldest trade paper for Catholic church music, especially liturgical music, still publishing in Germany., ''Grundriß ...

and Oratorio Society of New York. He also performed in

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmi ...

's ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can b ...

'' with Juilliard Opera. In 2017, he sang the role of Ottone in Handel's ''Agrippina'' with Carnegie Hall's La Serenissima: Music and Arts From the Venetian Republic. He took part in the

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

Handel Festival where he sang

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespre ...

's ''Nisi Dominus'' and excerpts from Handel's '' Dixit Dominus''. In the same year, he made his debut appearance at the

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental ...

Cavalli Cavalli is an Italian surname, literally meaning "horses", and may refer to: * Aldo Cavalli (born 1946), Italian bishop * Cade Cavalli (born 1998), American baseball player *Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676), Italian 17th-century composer * Hans Cavall ...

's opera '' Erismena''. He made his debut at the Frankfurt Opera in the 2017/18 season as the title character in Handel's ''

Rinaldo Rinaldo may refer to: * Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Li ...

''. In 2019, having been invited to perform Eustazio for the

Glyndebourne Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ex ...

's production in ''Rinaldo'', he was asked two weeks into rehearsals to take over the title role.Dan Cairns. Baroque and roll star. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

– Culture supplement'', 11 August 2019, p14-15. Orliński's debut solo album, ''Anima Sacra'', was released on the Erato label on 26 October 2018, with music by orchestra Il Pomo d'Oro conducted by

Maxim Emelyanychev Maxim Yuryevich Emelyanychev (Максим Юрьевич Емельянычев; born 28 August 1988, Dzerzhinsk) is a Russian conductor, pianist, harpsichordist and cornetist. From a musical family, Emelyanychev studied music at the Nizhny Novgor ...

. It consists of Baroque

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

s by various composers from the

Neapolitan School In music history, the Neapolitan School is a group, associated with opera, of 17th and 18th-century composers who studied or worked in Naples, Italy, Don Michael Randel (2003). ''The Harvard Dictionary of Music'', p. 549. . the best known of whom ...

, including what is thought to be world premiere recordings of eight works. In 2019, he won the ''O!Lśnienie'' cultural award presented by

Onet Onet.pl is one of the largest Polish web portals. It is owned by the Kraków-based Grupa Onet.pl S.A. It was founded in 1996 by Optimus company. According to Alexa rankings, as of October 2017, it was the 45th most popular website worldwide ...

and the city of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

in the category of classical music and jazz. In October, he won the

in the category of Young Artist of the Year. In 2020, he received the Paszport Polityki Award presented by the ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''Newsweek''s Polish edition, '' Newsweek Polska'', and ''Wp ...

'' yearly in the category of classical music. A second album ''Facce d'amore'', consisting of "a wide-ranging and well-chosen collection devoted to the many faces of love" from operas by

, Boretti, Bononcini, Scarlatti,

, Predieri, Matteis and Conti, prompted reviewer Brian Robins to commend the singer's "talents as a dramatic singer" and his stylish ornamentation, summing up his voice as "sweet-toned". In September 2020, he received the Best Singer of the Year title in Berlin awarded by the readers of the ''

Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera house An opera house is a theater (structure) ...

'' magazine. He made his debut at the

, NYC, in December 2021 after having been chosen to play the role of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to ...

’s alter-ego in Matthew Aucoin’s opera ''

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

''. In 2021, he received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination in the Best Opera Recording category for his performance in ''Handel: Agrippina'' conducted by

( Il Pomo d'Oro). In January 2022, he debuted at London's

in the role of Didymus in Katie Mitchell's production of George Frideric Handel's oratorio '' Theodora''. Having taken the role of Gluck's Orfeo into his repertoire, he has sung in the opera in several venues; for the production by Matthew Ozawa at

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...

in November 2022, Orliński opened the opera dancing a break routine. One reviewer commented that he was "cast to perfection", and with soprano Meigul Zhang "sang and acted wonderfully, with piquant, youthful urgency". In 2022, he received his second

nomination in the Best Opera Recording category for his performance in Matthew Aucoin's ''

'' produced by the

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper Wes ...

and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Personal life

Orliński is a champion break-dancer and is a member of the breakdancing collective Skill Fanatikz Crew. He has also modelled for fashion brands such as Nike and

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

Awards

*1st Prize at the Marcella Kochañska Sembrich Vocal Competition, New York, United States (2015) *2nd Prize at the IX International

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuania ...

Vocal Competition, Warsaw, Poland (2016) *1st Place Winner at the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition, New York, United States (2016) *Winner of the Grand Finals in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, New York, United States (2016) * Opus Klassik Award in the Solo Vocal Recital (Opera) category for his performance in ''Anima Sacra'', Germany (2019) *

, London, Great Britain (2019) * International Opera Award for Best Recording (Solo Recital), London, Great Britain (2021) * International Classical Music Award for his album ''Anima Aeterna'', France (2022) * Opus Klassik Award in the Audiovisual Music Production category for his performance in ''Vivaldi: Stabat Mater'' along with Jan Tomasz Adamus and

Capella Cracoviensis Capella Cracoviensis is a period instrument ensemble and a chamber choir based in Kraków, Poland. It was formed in 1970 by composer and music conductor Stanisław Gałoński (b. 1936), its first director and general manager. Capella Cracovie ...

, Germany (2022)

Discography

Albums

Video

* ''

'', opera in 3 acts with music by Matthew Aucoin and an English-language libretto by Sarah Ruhl ( Erin Morley as

, Joshua Hopkins as

, Jakub Józef Orliński as Orpheus's double, Barry Banks as

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

, Nathan Berg as Eurydice's father, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin), streaming

HD video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines ( ...

of a live performance at the

on 4 December 2021''Eurydice'' (4 December 2021)
Met Opera on Demand
CID:357519
Met Opera Archive.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orlinski, Jakub Jozef 1990 births Living people Musicians from Warsaw 21st-century Polish male opera singers Operatic countertenors Chopin University of Music alumni Juilliard School alumni Erato Records artists Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Polish performers of early music