Biography

American tenor, Jason Papowitz, has been praised for his “burnished tone and fine ring,” “impressive dynamic ability from delicate to powerful and passionate,” “polished tenor” and “glorious voice.”  Among his more than 40 performed roles are Pinkerton, Rodolfo, Alfredo, Riccardo, Radamès, Don José, Hermann and Cavaradossi which he recently sang on tour throughout Japan to great acclaim.  At home in German repertoire, he has performed Max, Tamino, Danilo, Eisenstein and covered the young Siegfried at the Sofia National Opera in Bulgaria.  He has recently added Bacchus, Erik, Florestan and Siegfried in Götterdämmerung to his repertoire.  Upcoming performances include Canio with Oper in Starnberg and Manrico in Theater an der Rott.  

 

A versatile artist, Mr. Papowitz has garnered a reputation for his work in contemporary opera, and has created four roles:  Midas in The Judgement of Midas by Kamen Ince at Lincoln Center, Chief Inspector Heat in The Secret Agent by Michael Dellaira in NY, NY, Szeged and Avignon (a “standout” and “sympathetic” performance writes Steven Smith in The New York Times), Alan Turing in The Turing Opera by William Antoniou at The Greek National Opera in Athens, and, this fall, Cain in Cain by Lyubomir Denev in Ruse and Sofia, Bulgaria.  In Oct. of 2011 he sang the Visitor in In the Penal Colony by Philip Glass.  This performance made critic Vivien Schweitzer’s Top 10 opera performances for 2011.  Ms. Schweitzer wrote in The New York Times, “Jason Papowitz offered a committed interpretation of the unwilling Visitor, singing with an ardent tenor and . . . sang with a heft and clear English diction that rendered the titles superfluous.”

 

Other career highlights include:  the title role in a production of Gazzaniga’s rarely produced opera, Don Giovanni, as well as a live televised New Year’s Day concert from the Prague State Opera, and performances of Der Rebell in Das Geheime Königreich by Ernst Krenek at the Greek National Opera.  Mr. Papowitz has performed in venues on several continents, including:  the Gasteig, Munich; The National Opera Theater, Taiwan; the Virgin Atlantic Holders Festival, Barbados; American Opera Projects in NY; The Center for Contemporary Opera in NY; a tour throughout the United States with Opera Verdi Europa; Taconic Opera; Opera in the Heights, Texas; Ostrava State Opera; Smetana Hall, Prague; Bulgaria Hall, Sofia; Plovdiv National Opera; Stara Zagora Opera; Burgas Opera; a tour in England with Eurostage;  and the Santa Margherita Summer Festival, Italy.

 

On the concert stage, Mr. Papowitz has been heard as a soloist with the Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinu, Zlin, Karlovarsky Symfonicky, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, The String Orchestra of Brooklyn, One World Symphony, and Vratza Philharmonic.  He sang the tenor solo in Beethoven’s 9th , Rossini’s La Petite Messe Solennelle, and the Messa per Rossini with the Bochumer Symphoniker.  Additionally, he has sung numerous concerts throughout Germany; two of the productions were Three Tenors Concerts and a concert of music by Wagner at the Palace of Nymphenburg in Munich.

 

Mr. Papowitz won the young artist debut with the Lyric Orchestra, NJ, USA and was a Prizewinner of the Mozarteum at the Salzburg Festival.

 

Born in New Jersey, USA, Mr. Papowitz began his musical studies in piano, cello, harmony and counterpoint. He is an honor’s graduate in philosophy of both K.U. Leuven, Belgium (M.A.) and Vassar College, USA (B.A.).  Deciding to pursue a career in opera, he moved to Italy to study voice.  Among his eminent voice teachers are such legendary names as Franco Corelli, Iris Adami Corradetti, Arigo Pola, Arturo Spinetti, Gianni Raimondi, James McCray, Maitland Peters, Bill Schuman, Jon Fredrick West and he has worked with such coaches as Richard Trimborn, Bradley Moore, Wolf-Michael Storz, Bliss Johnston Virago, Josh Greene, Catherine Lamb, Vyara Schuperlieva, and J. David Jackson.

 

Mr. Papowitz currently lives in Munich with his wife and children.