Acerca de
Sam Smerkolje Award 2018
About Matjaž
He began studying solo singing in 1991 at the High School of Music and Ballet in Maribor in the class of prof. Breda Janko. He continued his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz in the classes of prof. Wolfgang Gamerith and prof. Annemarie Zeller (solo singing), prof. Gerhard Zeller (solo), prof. Karlheinz Donauer (oratorio) and prof. Horst Zandra (opera and operetta).
In January 2003, he completed his post-graduate studies with honors, majoring in solo singing and oratorio, for which he received a university award, and already during his studies he collaborated with the Leoben City Theatre, the Association of Musicians of Austrian Styria, etc.
He regularly collaborates with the Slovenian opera houses SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and SNG Maribor, where he portrayed many operatic and operetta roles, including Pinkerton ("Madama Butterfly"), Franz Waldung ("Nymphs of the Rhine", a role he also portrayed in Festspielhaus St. Pölten in Austria and in the opera houses in Winterthur in Switzerland and Bozen in South Tyrol), Don Narciso ("The Turk in Italy"), Caramello ("Night in Venice") Florindo ("Curious Women"), Don José ( "Carmen"), Alfredo ("Traviata"), Ferrando ("Cosi van tutte"), Janez ("Goldilocks"), Eisenstein ("Bat"), Edwin ("Princess Čardaša"), Danilo ("Merry Widow") , Wether ("Werther"), Franjo ("Gorenjski nightingale"), Blaž ("Brothers"),...
He also regularly collaborates with the theater Bühne Baden and the Lehar Festival in Bad Ischl in opera and operetta roles, such as: Prinz Sou Chong ("Land of the Laughing"), Faust ("Faust"), Barinkay ("Gypsy Baron"), Baron Kronthal ( "Wild Shooter"), Jonel Bolescu ("Gypsy Love"), Zarewitsch ("Zarjevic"), Herzog von Urbino ("Night in Venice"), Georg Dumenil ("Opera Dance"), Sultan Sulejman ("1001 Nights") , Don Basilio ("The Marriage of Figaro"), Count René d'Etrades ("Madame Pompadour"), Raoul Severac ("The Woman Who Knows What She Wants"), Symon Rymanowics ("The Poor Student"), Florestan ("Fidelio" ), Karel van Lysseweghe ("Divorced Woman"),...
He portrayed the role of Ivan in Benjamin Ipavac's first historical opera ("Teharski plemiči") in SLG Celje in collaboration with the House of Culture Celje, and Miranda's father ("Gentle Giant") by Stephen McNeff in the production of the Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre. In his first participation in musicals, he portrayed the role of Max Detweiler ("My songs of my dreams"). In the new Slovenian romantic opera "The Tenth Brother" by composer Aleš Makovec, he portrayed Marijan, a man from Polesko, and in the production of ZKŠT Žalec he participated as composer Branko Mirnik in Radovan Gobec's operetta "The Hop Princess".
As a soloist, he participated in the performance of many vocal-instrumental works in Austria, Italy, Croatia, Syria, Hungary and Slovenia: Carmina Burana (C. Orff), Messiah (GFHändel), Jahreszeiten (J. Haydn), Magnificat (JS Bach ), Requiem (WA Mozart), Te deum (A. Bruckner), Golgotha (F. Martin) ... , as well as evenings of solos by composers of various musical periods (Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Strauss, Debussy, Vilhar, Krek, Šivic , Vremšak, Lipovšek ... ).
In 2010, he made his debut with the Munich Symphony in Munich, where he performed works by Italian composers. Upon their invitation again in 2013, he performed a program of works by Giuseppe Verdi at the Philharmonie am Gasteig under the baton of conductor Ken David Masur. In 2017, at the invitation of the Salute to Vienna orchestra, regular participation in New Year's concerts in the United States began in famous concert halls such as Boston Symphony Hall, Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach,...
In 2019, he will participate as Jason in the performance of the opera ("Medea") by Luigi Cherubini at the Art Hall in Linz, as Count Stanislaus in the operetta ("The Bird") and as Belmonte in Mozart's ("Flight from the Seraglio") at the Bühne Baden.