New York City's Premier Concert Opera Company
Stefan Szkafarowsky, Bass
Bass Stefan Szkafarowsky has been praised for the beautiful quality of his bass voice as well as for his impeccable technique and abilty to create outstanding characters. Upcoming performances include a return to the Metropolitan Opera for Nabucco, the title role in Aleko with the New York City Opera, the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila as well as the Doctor in La Traviata for The Dallas Opera, Dikoij in Katya Kabanova for Seattle Opera and Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for concerts on Martha's Vineyard.
Recent engagements have included Monterone in the new production of Rigoletto as well as the Bonza in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, both for the Metropolitan Opera, and the High Priest in Verdi’s Nabucco for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, all during their 2015 – 2016 season. Other engagements have included Benoit/Alcindoro in Puccini’s La Bohème for The Dallas Opera; Zaccaria in Nabucco for the Lviv Opera House in the Ukraine; Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin for Des Moines Metro Opera and Tulsa Opera; Uberto in La Serva Padrona at the Macau International Music Festival in China; the Bonze for Los Angeles Opera, the Sacristan in Tosca for Pensacola Opera; and the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila for the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Past performances include engagements with the Metropolitan Opera in La Rossignol, Werther, Salome, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, The Nose, Nabucco, Aida, The Rakes Progress, Boris Godunov, La Gioconda and Eugene Onegin. For Opera Colorado, he has sung both Monterone and Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and Vodnik in Rusalka. For Dallas Opera he was Mitiukh in Boris Godunov. With Nashville Opera he sang both the Sacristan and Sciarrone in their production of Tosca; Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro for the Macau International Music Festival; the Sacristan in Tosca for the Savonlinna Opera Festival; Benoit/Alcindoro for West Palm Beach Opera; Timur in Turandot for Dayton Opera; and has performed Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Kuno in Der Freischütz for Des Moines.
Other past performances include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte for Indianapolis Opera and San Antonio Opera; the King in Aida with Opera Pacific and Nevada Opera; the lackey Havrilo in War and Peace at the Metropolitan Opera; the Sacristan in Tosca at Florida Grand Opera; Benoit/Alcindoro in La Bohème, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Opera Pacific and Atlanta Opera. His debut with the Florida Grand Opera in Samson et Dalila as the Old Hebrew, followed by Friar Lawrence in Roméo et Juliette at Toledo Opera.
His Italian debut in Tchaikovsky’s Oprichnik at the Cagliari Opera House was a highlight of Mr. Szkafarowsky’s 2002-2003 season. In addition, he debuted with Minnesota Opera as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo; Ferrando in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Crespel in The Tales of Hoffmann with Washington Opera; Zaccaria in Nabucco with Florentine Opera and Santiago, Chile; and Ramfis in Aida with New Jersey Opera. He has performed with many other renowned opera companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Grand Rapids Opera, New Orleans Opera, Arizona Opera, San Diego Opera, Dallas Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Vancouver in such roles as Ramfis, Banquo, Sparafucile, Wurm, Prince Gremin, and Daland in The Flying Dutchman.
As a concert artist, Stefan has been a featured soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony, National Symphony in Washington D.C., Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and the Vancouver and Montreal Symphonies. He has worked under the batons of Maestro James Levine, Plácido Domingo, Michael Lankaster, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin and Michael Tilson Thomas.