Mikhail Smigelski

Hailed as “phenomenal” (The Harvard Crimson), “impressively epic” (schwäbische.de), and praised for his “wine-dark bass” (The Boston Globe), bass-baritone Mikhail Smigelski enjoys a versatile career spanning various genres, including opera, oratorio, early music, musical theatre, and contemporary music. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Mikhail has performed on some of the world's most prestigious stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Saint Petersburg and Moscow Philharmonias, Berliner Philharmonie, and Kölner Philharmonie. He has also collaborated with renowned European and American opera companies, such as Saint Petersburg Chamber Opera, Theater Aachen, Theater Solingen, Theater Leverkusen, Miami Lyric Opera, The Cleveland Opera, Opera in the Heights, among others. Dr. Smigelski’s performance portfolio features over 30 roles in classical and contemporary operas as well as other stage works, including Alidoro in La Cenerentola, both Figaro and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Don Alfonoso in Così fan tutte, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Nikitich and Varlaam in Boris Godunov, title roles in Falstaff and Eugene Onegin, and others. As a passionate advocate for contemporary classical music, Smigelski participated in numerous festivals including New York Ferus Festival and the Cohen New Works Festival, and performed in several world and U.S. premieres with collectives such as East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Density 512, and Rhapsode Guild. In addition to his performing and teaching career, Mikhail Smigelski is a Music Director of Houston-based musical theatre company Opera Leggera, Artistic Director of Russian Speakers’ Society of Austin, and General Producer of the independent classical and experimental music recording label Ladoga Records.