General Management - World

Bass-baritone Igor Bakan joined the ensemble of the Vlaamse Oper in fall 2010 where he will remain through the 2011/12 season. In his first season at the Vlaamse Opera the artist was heard as Oroe in Rossini's Semiramide under the baton of Alberto Zedda, Einäugige in Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Vittelius in Massenet's Herodiade, and as Il Tempo/Antinoo in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulysse in Patria.

Roles for 2011/12 at the Vlaamse Opera include Ivan Sjoeran (Tchaikovsky’s Tsjarodejka- cond. D. Jurowski), Don Prudencio (Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims- cond. A. Zedda), Alcade/Chirurgo (Verdi’s La Forza del Destino - cond.A. Joel), and Daniel (Donizetti’s Le Duc d’Albe-cond. P. Carignani). Mr. Bakan will also be heard as Oroe in Semiramide at the Edinburgh Festival in summer 2011 for his UK debut.

In the 2009/2010 season Mr. Bakan attended the International Opera Studio of Opernhaus Zürich, and had his first guest engagement in Elektra as Pfleger des Orest and covered the role of Orest under the baton of Gustav Kuhn in Italy for 8 performances in January and February 2010. He also made his Opernhaus Zurich debut as Schliesser in Tosca on February 24 alongside Thomas Hampson under the baton of Nello Santi.

During the 2008/9 season Mr. Bakan was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper and appeared in small parts in many important productions including Verdi's Macbeth, Palestrina, La Boheme, Otello, Lohengrin (starring Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros, available on DVD). During that year Mr. Bakan also appeared alongside baritone Paolo Gavanelli as Monterone in Rigoletto in a concert at the Herkulessaal der Residenz in Munich with the Münchner Opernorchester.

Igor Bakan is the recipient of many prizes and awards, and most importantly won numerous prizes at the 27th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Vocal Competition including the 2nd Prize in Opera, Audience Prize, Prize of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Prize of La Scala di Milano, and Prize of the Stadttheater Klagenfurt. The young bass-baritone was also a finalist in the 1st International Singing Competition of the Savonlinna Opera Festival in July 2010.

On January 24th, 2009 Mr. Bakan performed in a concert with the Deutschen Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern conducted by Enrico Delamboy, and was the winner of the Emmerich-Smola-Förderpreises 2009. As part of the competition, Bakan was in a documentary film produced by SWR Television about the competition, which was broadcast in February 2009. The young artist has also been awarded with many prizes and awards in his home country and Russia.

Mr. Bakan has performed as soloist in concerts throughout Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus.

Bakan, a native of Klaipeda, Lithuania, graduated from Klaipeda University with a degree in Voice in 2007. From 2006-2008 the young artist was a member of the Opera Theater of Klaipeda where he appeared in a number of roles including Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Fürst Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Uberto (La Serva Padrona), Doctor Grenvil (La Traviata) and Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro).