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The Canadian baritone, Robert Pomakov, graduated from St. Michael's Choir School, Toronto, in 1999, where he was since 1992, a member of the choirs of the School. At the end of 1998, he began his training at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Young Artists’ Performance Academy, under Mary Morrison. He continued his training at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, under the direction of Mikael Eliasen. Pomakov has been a prize-winner in several of the world's premier singing competitions: a finalist in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium in 2000, 2nd place at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna and 3rd place in Plácido Domingo's Operalia. Other awardss and prizes have included first prize in the 2000 Oratorio Society of New York's solo competition, an encouragement award in the 2000 George London Foundation Competition, an encouragement award from the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, the 1999 Victoria Scholars Grant, Second Prize in the 1998 Canadian Music Competition and First Prize in the 1997 Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto.
In the meantime, Robert Pomakov has gain the experience of an opera singer and a concert artist. He has worked with the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio in Toronto and pursued several summer courses with Marilyn Horne and Marlena Malas. This eclectic background has allowed him to study the roles of Colline in La Bohème, of Arkel in Pelléas and Mélisande, of Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten, of Masetto in Don Giovanni and of Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro by W.A. Mozart, all under the direction of Richard Bradshaw. Pomakov has also performed at the LuminaTO "Luna Gala."
Robert Pomakov has earned critical acclaim for his unique voice and musicianship in opera, concert and recital. He debuts with the Opera de Montreal as Vodnik in Dvořák’s Rusalka, and with Los Angeles Opera Pietro in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra opposite Plácido Domingo in the title role. He returns to Los Angeles later in the season as Colline in La Boheme under the baton of Patrick Summers. He also sings Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca with Opera Lyra Ottawa. Concert engagements for next season include Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Peter Oundjian and L.v. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Kansas City Symphony.
Highlights of past seasons include performances with the Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Teatro Real, La Monnaie, among others. Notable appearances include his Washington Opera debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni in a new production conducted by Plácido Domingo, his debut at the Teatro Real as Nikitich in Boris Godunov conducted by Jesús López-Cobos and opposite Samuel Ramey, a repeat of Varlaam for his debut at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, the role of the Chamberlain in a new production of Le Rossignol by visionary director Robert Lepage in a co-production with the Canadian Opera Company and Brooklyn Academy of Music and a joining of the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for the title role of a new production of Verdi’s Attila by Pierre Audi conducted by Riccardo Muti.
In addition to his staged opera performances, Robert Pomakov has also performed with a number of concert organizations such as Le Festival de Lanaudière, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival, Royal Conservatory of Music, Pacific Symphony, among others.
Notable concert performances of past seasons include his Ravinia Festival debut in L.v. Beethoven's Choral Fantasy conducted by James Conlon, the role of Virgil in Sergei Rachmaninov's Francesca da Rimini and the Hector Berlioz version of Der Freischütz all under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, his Canadian Opera Company debut in a concert with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, the Roy Thomson Hall Millennium Opera Gala with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (released on CBC Records), Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony no. 14 with the Canadian Opera Company, a European tour of George Frideric Handel's Apollo e Dafne (Released on Naxos Records), his Concertgebouw debut with the European Union Baroque Orchestra and performances of G. Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Robert Pomakov recital credits include two recitals at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio one of which was broadcast by the CBC.
In September 2006, Robert Pomakov was decorated with the Simeon, the First Honorary Medal from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, and with a diploma from the Minister of Culture for his achievements in opera's art and special merit to Bulgarian culture and its dissemination all over the world.
During the current season, Pomakov will participate in two Canadian Opera Company productions as the Old Servant in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride opposite Susan Graham, and Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto under the direction of Christopher Alden. |
