Biography

English

Bass-Baritone Assaf Levitin joined in the season 2002-2003 the Dortmund Opera house, directly after completing his advanced opera training at the
International Opera Studio Zurich, where he took masterclasses with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Edita Gruberova, Peter Konwitschny, Ruggero Raimondi, and many other world-class artists.

During his 3-year collaboration with the Dortmund Opera House he sang various roles, including Mozart's Figaro, Don Alfonso and Masetto, Puccini's Colline, Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin) and Baculus (Wildschütz).

During his studies at the Hochschule des Saarlandes für Musik und Theater with Prof. Yaron Windmüller, won a number of competitions, including the Vera Rosza-Nordell Competition, Walter-Gieseking Competition, Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, and was a finalist at the Paula-Solomon-Lindberg Lied competition.

Naturally endowed with perfect pitch and a big vocal range, he is much in demand as an interpreter of contemporary music. His enthusiasm for musical and literary exploration has inspired several composers to compose pieces dedicated to him.  Among his world-premieres are the operas "Seven Attempted Escapes from Silence" (Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin 2005), Bernhard Lang's "The Old Man of the Mountains" (Schwetzinger Festspiele and Theater Basel, 2007) and Klaus Lang's "Buch Asche" (Bonn, 2010) to name but a few.

Born in Israel, Assaf Levitin devotes a part of his work to Hebrew and Jewish music. A double CD with Jewish A-capella lithurgy appeared at the label of Schott Mainz. His CD with the world premiere of Israeli art songs of the composer Noa Blass appeared in the spring of 2007.

On the concert stage, his repertoire includes Beethoven's 9thSymphony, as well as the major works of Bach, Handel, Puccini, Rossini and Mozart. He has collaborated with Orchestras such as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, SWR Stuttgart, WDR Cologne, Berliner Symphoniker, Brandenburger Symphonikern, Israeli Chamber Orchestra, and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. In 2009 he sang the solo bass role in a CD recording of Schubert's masses for the international label "Naxos".

Since the beginning of the season 2005/06 Assaf Levitin works as a freelance singer and voice teacher. He has since collaborated with orchestras and opera houses in Europe, South Korea and Israel, and gave master classes in Israel. Further projects involve festivals in Greece and Norway, a debut opera collaboration with the opera houses in Basel and Bonn, and various world premieres.