David Witczak

For OA

Pluto in The Descent of Orpheus, Saul in David and Jonathan

Upcoming

Grand Motets, Lalande,
Liszt Academy Budapest (Hungary)
Orfeo Orchestra, György Vashegyi

The King Dances, Lalande
Bourgie Hall, Montreal

Et Cetera

I started playing music young with the clarinet. We listened to all kinds of music at home: blues, rock (Radio 21 every Sunday evening during dinner!), country, mariachi, and also classical music. I had a Mozart cassette with the overture to The Marriage of Figaro , Eine kleine Nachtmusik , and also… opera arias. I can’t remember which ones, but I couldn’t stand operatic voices—they simply ruined the music, in my young opinion. And I would press “forward” long enough to make sure I wouldn’t hear those voices anymore, the ones that made my skin crawl.

For this reason, the mechanics by which I myself became an opera singer still elude me.

Let us nevertheless mention a few facts and names that must have maliciously conspired to lead me here:

A children’s choir (travels, beautiful escapes and a few television blunders),

Some conservatories (Lille, Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Amsterdam),

Some professors (Valérie Guillorit, Hélène Dufour, Sébastien Obrecht, Raphaël Sikorski, Thomas Dolié…).

Subsequently, my long-term work with Hervé Niquet, first in the choir of the Concert Spirituel, then as a soloist, contributed to my vocal and stylistic development.

An encounter with Gaétan Jarry gave me the chance to grow up alongside his ensemble Marguerite Louise, from our private concerts of small motets by Charpentier to the David & Jonathan  recorded in Versailles by the same Charpentier.

The renewed confidence of the CMBV allowed me to collaborate with the choir (under the direction of Olivier Schneebeli, then Fabien Armangaud), and with the musicologist Benoît Dratwicki. Through the projects led by the latter, I had the pleasure of working under the direction of Alexis Kossenko, György Vashegy, Leonardo García Alarcón, and Julien Chauvin.

Some directors opened new perspectives for me, pushing me to delve deeper into my artistic exploration. These encounters were pivotal and greatly enhanced my passion for stage performance.

This is the case of Vincent Tavernier (Giacinto in Il mondo alla roversa  by Galuppi, Philinte in Les Amants Magnifiques by Lully and Molière), Jean-Denis Monory (Coviello in L’Egisto by Mazzocchi and Marazzoli), Edouard Signolet (Ben in The Telephone by Menotti), or Marshall Pynkoski (Saul in David & Jonathas by Charpentier).