B i o g r a p h y
Blaise Malaba is a DR Congolese bass trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he is an Honorary Associate. In 2019, he was an Opera Holland Park Young Artist, and from 2020 to 2022 he was a member of the prestigious
Jette Parker Artists Programme at the Royal Ballet & Opera.
Renowned for his resonant bass voice and commanding stage presence, Blaise’s operatic repertoire includes Publio (La clemenza di Tito), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Alidoro (La Cenerentola), Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Sparafucile and Count Monterone (Rigoletto), Samuel (Un ballo in maschera), Banco (Macbeth), King of Egypt and Ramfis (Aida), Ferrando (Il trovatore), Abimélech (Samson & Dalila), Fotis (The Greek Passion), Frazier (Porgy and Bess), Il Re (Ariodante), Somnus (Semele), Aleko (title role), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Colline (La bohème), and Vodník (Rusalka).
He has appeared with leading companies including Lviv National Opera, Opera Holland Park, West Green House Opera, Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier, Opéra National du Capitol de Toulouse, Opéra National de Nancy–Lorraine, Teatro Colón, Canadian Opera Company, Opera North, and the Royal Ballet & Opera.
Named a Rising Star in the October 2020 edition of BBC Music Magazine, Blaise is also active on the concert platform. His oratorio repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
He has performed with Orchestre Symphonique de la Garde Républicaine under Colonel Sébastien Billard, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra under Marios Papadopoulos, and in Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz.
Blaise represented the Democratic Republic of Congo in major international competitions, including BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (Finalist) and the Impreza International Vocal Competition, where he won First Prize (both in 2015).
During the 2025/26 season, Blaise makes his company debut with Opéra National de Nancy–Lorraine, reprising Colline (La Bohème), debuts with Opera North as Hobson (Peter Grimes), and returns to the Royal Ballet & Opera as Sire de Béthune (Les vêpres siciliennes), Count Monterone (Rigoletto), and Lord Gualtiero Valton
(I puritani).
Recent highlights include his debut as Ferrando (Il trovatore) under Giacomo Sagripanti, debut as Zuniga (Carmen) under Antonello Manacorda both for the Royal Ballet & Opera, debut as Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) for Opera Holland Park under Michael Papadopoulos, Colline (La bohème) with the Canadian Opera Company conducted by Jordan de Souza, and Abimélech (Samson et Dalila) for the Royal Ballet & Opera under Sir Antonio Pappano.
Photo credit: Edmond Choo
