B i o g r a p h y
DR Congolese bass Blaise Malaba before trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he is a Honorary Associate. In 2019, he was an Opera Holland Park Young Artist and from 2020/2022, he was member of the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artist Program at the Royal Opera House .
Recognised for his resonant bass voice and strong stage presence, Blaise`s operatic repertoire includes Publio (La Clemenza di Tito), Sarastro & Sprecher (Magic flute), Don Magnifico & Alidoro (La Cenerentola), Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Sparafucile & Monterone (Rigoletto), Samuel (Un Ballo in Maschera), Banco (Macbeth), King (Aida), Ramfis (Aida), Ferrando (Il Trovatore), Abimelech (Samson & Dalila), Fotis (The Greek Passion), Frazier (Porgy and Bess), Second Elder (Susanna), Il Re (Ariodante), Somnus (Semele), Aleko (title role), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Colline (La Boheme) and Vodnik (Rusalka) for companies including Mid Wales Opera, Lviv National Opera, Opera Holland Park, The New Generation Festival, West Green House Opera, Northern Opera Group, Opera de Bauge, Opera Orchestre National de Montpellier, Teatro Colon, Canadian Opera Company and the Royal Opera House.
Named as a Rising Star in the October 2020 edition of BBC Music Magazine, his repertoire extends to concert and oratorio repertory including, Verdi`s requiem, Mozart`s Requiem, Handel`s Messiah, Puccini`s Messa di Gloria and La Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini.
Blaise M. has performed with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra under the baton of maestro Carlo Rizzi, L`Orchestre Symphonique de la garde Républicaine (France) under the baton of Colonel Sébastien Billard and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits.
Blaise M. represented the Democratic Republic of Congo in competitions including Toulouse International Singing Competition 2019, finalist, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, finalist and Impreza International Vocal Competition, First prize (both in 2015), Vincero Competition 2023, Finalist.
Durind the season 2024/25, Blaise M. makes his company debut for Opéra du Capitole Toulouse as High Priest in Stefano Poda’s new production of Nabucco under Giacomo Sagripanti, sings the Bass solo part in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra under Marios Papadopoulos and Handel’s Israel in Ägypten with Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz and returns to the Royal Opera House as Ferrando in Adele Thomas’ production of Il trovatore.
Recent highlights included critically acclaimed debut as Zuniga in Damiano Michieletto’s new production of Carmen under Antonello Manacorda for ROH, Covent Garden, debut as Colline in La Bohème with Canadian Opera Company conducted by Jordan de Souza, debut as King Philip II in Don Carlo at Opéra de Baugé under Gary Matthewman, Abimélech in Richard Jones’ new production of Samson et Dalila for the ROH under Sir Antonio Pappano.
Photo credit: Edmond Choo