David Bižić

David Bižić (Давид Бижић; born 25 November 1975) is an operatic baritone. He was born in Belgrade, Serbia.

Early life
Bižić was born in Belgrade, Serbia. He studied archaeology before he pursued vocal arts. His father was a physical chemist and his mother is a psychologist.

His love for opera, he states, started at early age being exposed to opera records at home, especially The Three Tenors concerts. Two of the four main artists from those recordings, Zubin Mehta and by Placido Domingo conducted him later in the career.


 * "I remember feeling really connected to Domingo, Pavarotti, the famous tenors. I was seven or eight years old when I listened to them sing arias, and although I didn’t know what they were singing about, I could feel the emotion and passion, and that spoke so much to me. I also did conducting at home and became passionate about expressing myself through music. But I had no idea that I would become an opera singer. It was never on my list of possible professions."

Education and early career
In 2000 at the age of 24 he started studying voice at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance with Bibiana Goldenthal. He later continued his education with International Vocal Arts Institute (IVAI) and apprenticed with the Israeli Opera YAP and Paris National Opera – Atelier Lyrique program.

He has participated in numerous master classes and concerts in France, Israel, New York and Japan working with José van Dam, Teresa Berganza and Gabriel Bacquier among others.

Singing career
After his musical training in Tel Aviv, Paris and New York, Bizic's principal role debut was in the title role of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in Nantes, in 2006. During that same time, he was awarded the AROP Prix lyrique by the Paris National Opera, and has won the second prize of Operalia world opera competition.

Bižić has since appeared in major opera houses and festivals across Europe and America.

Bižić's career first garnered international attention in the role of Masetto in two critically acclaimed productions of Don Giovanni by Michael Haneke in Paris opera and Dmitri Tcherniakov in Aix-en-Provence Festival. He later revived both of those productions, now in the role of Leporello.

In 2014 Bižić made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York singing Albert in Richard Eyre's production of Werther alongside Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch and came back the following season to sing Marcello (La Bohème). He has been back to the Metropolitan Opera every season after that having sung more than 50 shows so far.

Opera
As an interpreter of Mozart roles, most notably Don Giovanni, Leporello and Masetto in Don Giovanni, Almaviva and Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Guglielmo and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Bižić has performed in Paris Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro Real, Bolshoi Theatre, Bordeaux, Geneve, Ravinia Festival, Valencia, Toulouse, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Maribor, Montpellier, Rennes, Saint Etienne, Rouen, Aix en Provence, Dijon, Nantes and Strasbourg.

Other career highlights include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Albert in Werther, Albert and Schaunard in Royal Opera House, debut in Teatro Liceo as Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Marcello and Sharpless in the Metropolitan Opera, title role of Eugene Onegin in Limoges, Metz and Tel Aviv, Lucia di Lammermoor's Enrico in Toulon Opera, Zurga in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles in Bordeaux and Dortmund, Escamillo (Carmen) in Tel Aviv, Belgrade, Stockholm, Dijon and Macerata Opera, and High Priest of Dagon (Samson et Dalila) in Royal Swedish Opera.

In 2023, Bižić debuted at the San Francisco Opera portraying Belcore in Daniel Slater's production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore,  conducted by Ramón Tebar.

Concerts
In opera concert performances Bizic has sung Sharples in Puccini's Madama Butterfly with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder.

He has also performed Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Ravinia Festival with Chicago Symphony Orchestra under James Conlon, La Vida Breve with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Zurga from Bizet's Les Pecheurs des Perles with WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln under Friedrich Haider.

His other concert appearances include Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Orchestre de Montpellier and the Orchestre de Bordeaux under Marc Minkowski, Zeisl's Requiem Ebraico with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, Fauré's Requiem with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris / Accentus Choir for the Saint Denis Festival conducted by Laurence Equilbey and Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with the Serbian Radio TV Symphony Orchestra.

Personal life
Bižić lives in Bordeaux, France. He is married and has two children. Bižić can also play piano and didjeridoo. He is a brother of Dr. Mina Bizic

Awards
Bižić is a winner of the second prize from Operalia, The World Opera Competition in 2007 and Paris Opera AROP Prix Lyriques in 2005.

Recordings

 * La Bohéme – Puccini (Marcello)
 * Sergio Alapont, Irish National Opera
 * Signum Classics SKU: SIGCD702 – CD
 * Released 2022


 * Requiem Ebraico – Zeisl
 * Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
 * Helicon Classics 02-9625 – CD
 * Released 2006


 * L'Amour des trois oranges – Prokofiev
 * Sylvain Cambreling, Paris National Opera
 * TDK – DVD
 * Released 2006


 * Don Giovanni – Mozart (Leporello)
 * Antony Hermus, Rennes Opera
 * Culturebox streaming
 * Released 2010


 * La Bohéme – Puccini (Schaunard)
 * Sir Mark Elder, Royal Opera House
 * ROH Live Cinema Season
 * Released 2012


 * Les Béatitudes – Franck (Christ)
 * Gergely Madaras, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège
 * Fuga Libera SKU: FUG817 – CD
 * Released 2024


 * Werther – Massenet (Albert)
 * Alain Altinoglu, Metropolitan Opera
 * Met Opera on Demand
 * Released 2014


 * Don Giovanni – Mozart (Masetto)
 * Louis Langrée, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
 * BelAir Classiques – BAC611, BAC480 – DVD, BLU-RAY
 * Released 2013


 * Werther – Massenet (Albert)
 * Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera House
 * ROH Live Cinema Season
 * Released 2016


 * Manon Lescaut – Puccini (Lescaut)
 * Emmanuel Villaume, Gran Teatre del Liceu
 * Mezzo TV
 * Released 2018


 * Hipishizik Metafizik – Rambo Amadeus
 * PGP RTS – 416934 CD
 * Released 2008