Turkish Bass Önay Köse recently left Berlin's famed Komische Oper, where he performed a variety of roles including the Nightwatchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and Pluto in the Monteverdi/Katz-Chernin version of Orpheus.
Current projects include a return to the Canadia Opera Company as Timur in Turandot and a debut with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra as Ramfis in Aida. Future plans include a debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Last season, Mr. Köse made several important debuts: with the Canadian Opera Company as Lodovico in Otello and as Colline in La bohème, with the Oper Köln as Timur in Turandot and at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile as Oroveso in Norma. In concert, Mr. Köse recently sang Lodovico and the Herald in Otello with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl and performed in recital at Bard’s Summerscape festival in various Russian pieces. He also sang the bass solo in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Cäcilienchor in Frankfurt.
Mr. Köse recently made his debut with Oper Frankfurt as Sparafucile in their new production of Rigoletto. In the 2017-2018 season, Mr. Köse made debuts with the Bard Music Festival in Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and the Tulsa Opera as Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, as well as performing both new and reprised roles with the Komische Oper, including the Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
In March 2014, Mr. Köse made his Alice Tully Hall debut in a Juilliard Vocal Arts Recital and appeared in a Young Artists Concert at the Salzburg Festival. In 2015 he made his Carnegie Hall Debut as the Bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the New York Youth Symphony and sang the Cappadocian in Salome with Opera San Antonio.
Mr. Köse completed his Master’s Degree and obtained his Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from the Juilliard School. Here, his roles included Pantalone in Le donne curiose, the Priest/Badger in The Cunning Little Vixen, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Le Roi in Cendrillon, and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte.
