Assaf Levitin, Bassbariton

Bass-Baritone Assaf Levitin joined in the season 2002-2003 the Dortmund Opera house, directly after completing his advanced opera training at the International Opera Studio Zurich. During his 3-year collaboration with the Dortmund Opera House he sang various roles, including Mozart´s Figaro, Don Alfonso and Masetto, Puccini´s Colline, Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin) and Baculus (Wildschütz).

During his studies at the Hochschule des Saarlandes für Musik und Theater with Prof. Yaron Windmüller, he was granted numerous scholarships and won a number of competitions, including the Vera Rosza-Nordell Competition, Walter-Gieseking Competition, Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, and was a finalist at the Paula-Solomon-Lindberg Lied competition. Later on, he worked under the guidance of Baritone Karoly Szilagyi.

Naturally endowed with perfect pitch and a big vocal range, he is much in demand as an interpreter of contemporary music. His repertoire includes, among others, Aribert Reimann´s *Entsorgt*, *Schönberg´s Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte*, the title role in John Casken´s opera *Golem*. He also sang the world Premiere of the operas *Seven Attempted Escapes from Silence*(Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin 2005), Eckhard Meyer´s *Das Treffen in Telgte *(Dortmund 2005) and Bernhard Lang´s *The Old Man from the Mountains* (Schwetzinger Festspiele, 2007).

Born in Israel, Assaf Levitin devotes a significant part of his work to Hebrew and Jewish music. Recently a double CD with Jewish A-capella songs appeared at the label of Schott Mainz. His CD with the world premiere of Israeli art songs of the composer Noa Blass appeared in the spring of 2005. In 2004 he toured with a concert program with Hebrew popular songs in new musical arrangements throughout Germany.

Born in Israel, Assaf Levitin devotes a significant part of his work to Hebrew and Jewish music. Recently a double CD with Jewish A-capella songs appeared at the label of Schott Mainz. His CD with the world premiere of Israeli art songs of the composer Noa Blass appeared in the spring of 2005. In 2004 he toured with a concert program with Hebrew popular songs in new musical arrangements throughout Germany.

Since the beginning of the season 2005/06 Assaf Levitin works as a freelance singer. He has since collaborated with orchestras and opera houses in Europe, South Korea and Israel. Future projects involve festivals in Greece and Norway, as well as debut collaborations with the Philharmonie in Colone, Germany, a WDR radio recordings and debut opera collaboration with the opera house in Basel.