Stefan Pop Romanian tenor Country: Romania

Biography of Stefan Pop

Stefan Pop is a Romanian tenor and winner of several vocal competitions, including the Seoul International Music Competition and Operalia, The World Opera Competition, where he also received the Audience Prize. Born in 1987 in Bistrita, Romania, Pop studied at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj Napoca. He has won numerous Romanian and international vocal competitions, including the Sigismund Toduta and Hariclea Darclée competitions in 2007, the Martian Negrea competition in 2008, and the Ionel Perlea and Sabin Dragoi competitions in 2009.

In 2010, Pop won first prize at the 6th Seoul International Music Competition and Operalia in Milan. He regularly performs with major Romanian symphony orchestras, including the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Târgu Mureș Philharmonic Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Iași, Oradea, and Timișoara. Notably, he participated in the world premiere of Gyorgy Kurtag's 'Colinda balada op. 46' with the Transilvania Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2009.

Pop made his opera debut in the 2008-2009 season as Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto at the Cluj-Napoca Romanian National Opera and as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore at the Timișoara Opera House. In December 2009, he made his international debut as Alfredo in La Traviata at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Franco Zeffirelli's renowned production. He has since performed Alfredo at various opera houses worldwide, including the Greek National Opera in Athens, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Verdi Trieste, Hamburg State Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Bucharest National Opera, and Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. He sang Nemorino at Teatro Verdi Trieste in 2010 and at the Hamburg State Opera in 2011. In the same year, Pop debuted at the Zurich Opera House as Cassio in Verdi's Otello and as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto in Seoul.

As a guest artist, Pop performed in three concerts with Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu in the Far East, Seoul, and Shanghai. In February 2012, he sang the Duke of Mantua for the first time at the Paris Opera. He has shared the stage with renowned opera singers such as Patrizia Ciofi, Mariella Devia, Edita Gruberová, Leo Nucci, José Cura, and Thomas Hampson. Pop has also collaborated with conductors Evelino Pidò, Andrea Battistoni, Daniele Gatti, Simone Young, Paolo Longo, and many others.

Upcoming engagements for Pop include performances at La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, as well as concerts in Paris and the Middle East with Angela Gheorghiu.