Tomáš Král

Baritone Tomáš Král is a leading figure on the Eastern European early music scene, appearing in vocal music, choral music, and opera. He is particularly frequently heard in Bach's music, but his repertory ranges forward into the 19th century. Král was born in Brno. He studied voice at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts there, working with Adriana Hlavsová and taking master classes beyond Eastern Europe with tenor Howard Crook, tenor Peter Schreier, and bass Joel Frederiksen. After completing his studies, Král began around 2005 to find places in a wide variety of early music groups all over the European continent and the British Isles, including La Venexiana, the B'Rock Orchestra, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, and the Dunedin Consort. He was a founding member of the pioneering Czech early music choir Collegium Vocale 1704, named for a major performance of Jan Dismas Zelenka's music in Prague, and he participated with that group in the large project Bach - Prague - 2005. Král appeared with other singers on a variety of recordings on the Supraphon label, including Josef Antonín Sehling: Christmas in Prague Cathedral (2014), Janáček: Moravian Folk Songs (2015), and Bohuslav Martinu: Songs (2019). Král has appeared at such major European venues as the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, Wigmore Hall in London, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Chapelle Royale at Versailles. He has been a particular favorite at festivals, appearing at the Prague Spring Festival, the Dresdner and Salzburger Festspiele, and Early Music Festivals in Bruges and Utrecht, among many others. Král has performed operatic roles, including that of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Apollo in Monteverdi's Orfeo, and Polyphemus in Handel's Acis and Galatea, the latter at the Halle Händel Festspiele in Germany. He has appeared in 19th century operas by Weber and Suppé, and he sang the role of Jesus in the staged version of Bach's St. John Passion at the Dutch National Opera. Král issued his solo debut, Kings in the North, on the Aparte label in 2022.
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