Burak Bilgili
Bass

From the time of his professional operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala as Don Alfonso in Lucrezia Borgia, Bass Burak Bilgili has had tremendous success singing in internationally renowned venues such as the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Canadian Opera Company, Liceu de Barcelona, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Caramoor Festival, Savonlinna Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, where he has worked with such conductors as Evenlino Pidò, Nicola Luisotti, and Alberto Zedda.

In the 2024-25 season he performs Michele in Il Tabarro with Musica Viva in Hong Kong. His most recent engagements include title role in Rossini’s Maometto II with the Istanbul State Opera, Enrico in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena with Musica Viva in Hong Kong, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with the Rochester Philharmonic, Friar Lawrence in Romeo et Juilette with Opera Naples, and appearances in concert in his native Turkey. Other recent engagements include Dulcamara with Musica Viva Hong Kong, Mozart’s Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, excerpts of Verdi’s Aida and Rigoletto also with the Atlanta Symphony, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Cincinnati Opera, and the title role of Don Pasquale for Michigan Opera Theater (canceled for Covid). Recently he has also been heard as Escamillo at Opera di Firenze, Mustafa in L’italiana in Algieri in Montpellier, Frer Laurent in Beijing at NCPA, and Don Pasquale at Ft. Worth Opera, Oper Köln as Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, L’Opera de Tours as Mustafa in L’italiana in Algieri and Nilakantha in Lakme at the Royal Opera of Oman. He has performed Zaccaria in Nabucco at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, the Washington National Opera and the Auckland Philharmonia, Sparafucile in Rigoletto in Mexico, Oroveso in Norma at Florida Grand Opera, Conte de Walter in Luisa Miller at Staatsoper Hamburg, Laurent in Romeo et Juliette and Don Pasquale with Atlanta Opera.

Recent concert engagements include Handel’s Messiah with the Washington National Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Dvoák’s Stabat Mater at Carnegie Hall, Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with the Atlanta Symphony, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Istanbul Symphony State Orchestra, and Ramfis in Aida with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Other notable engagements include Ramfis in Aida with Edmonton Opera, Procida in Vespri Siciliani with the Caramoor Festival, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte for Avignon, Ferrando in Il Trovatore for the San Francisco Opera, Fiesco in Simon Boccangra for L’Opéra de Montréal, The Four Villians in Les conte d’Hoffmann for Virginia Opera and in Beijing, Sparafucile in Rigoletto for Omaha Lyric Opera, Colline in La Bohèmefor Naples Opera, Nourabad in Les Pécheurs de perles for Florida Grand Opera, Leporello and Banquo for Vancouver Opera, Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer for Michigan Opera Theater, and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia for the Canadian Opera Company.