Thomas Laske, baritone

Thomas Laske was born in Stuttgart and received his initial training as a singer during his ten years as a member of the Stuttgart Hymnus Boys Choir.

He studied sound-and-vision engineering and graduated in 1996. During this time he commenced singing studies with Brigitte Dürrler and Lied Interpretation with Ria Goetze in Dusseldorf and completed his concert examinations with honors in 2000. He also studied with Andreas Schmidt and Otto Edelmann.

In 1997 he won First Prizes in the Richard Strauss Competition in Munich and in the Schmolz-Bickenbach Competition in Düsseldorf.

In the concert field the young artist has performed with many well known conductors and ensembles including Karl-Friedrich Beringer, Georg Christoph Biller, Riccardo Chailly, Mariss Jansons, Peter Neumann, Krysztof Penderecki. Hellmuth Rilling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestra Sinfonica di  Milano Giuseppe Verdi, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Thomanerchor Leipzig and Windsbacher Knabenchor. Concert tours have taken him to Belgium Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Russia, Spain, the Netherlands, Iran, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

There are many radio and CD recordings which document his development.  Most recently released is a CD of Bach’s St. Matthews Passion with the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

He began his opera career a member of the Opera Studio of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Dusseldorf-Duisburg. From 1999-2001 he was engaged at the Schiller Theater North Rhine-Westphalia Gelsenkirchen/Wuppertal and is currently a member of the Wuppertal Opera. During this time he has appeared as a guest with the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt/Main and Deutsche Oper am Rhein Dusseldorf. His repertoire includes Barbiere, Conte Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Eugene Onegin, Sharpless and Valentin.