Biography
Canadian-Armenian bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian has been praised for “... a voice that comes from his toes - magisterial and commanding, with just enough vibrato to give it bite (Citron).”
This season marks numerous exciting roles and house debuts for Gabrielian. This includes a festival debut as Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress) at the Verbier Festival, house debut as Dottore Grenvil (La Traviata) at the Paris Opera, role and house debut at Opera San Jose performing Basilio (The Barber of Seville), Friar Laurent (Romeo and Juliet), and Capitán (Florencia en el Amazonas). He will close the season as Fasolt (Das Rheingold) with the Edmonton Opera. A sought-after concert performer, Gabrielian will also be the bass-soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights from last year’s season include Masetto and Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at the National Arts Centre, Nourabad (Les pêcheurs de perles) at the Vancouver Opera, and a return to the Canadian Opera Company to perform Dottore (Macbeth) and cover Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Banquo (Macbeth), and Angelotti (Tosca).
Gabrielian holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree of Vocal Performance from the Curtis Institute of Music. He is also an alumnus of the Canadian Opera Company’s ensemble and the Santa Fe Apprentice program.
Awards and Accolades
Gabrielian is a recipient of awards from numerous organizations including the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Career Bridges Schuyler Foundation, Sylva Gelber Foundation, Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the George London Foundation.
In 2022, Gabrielian was a finalist at the Belvedere Competition in Latvia as well as a National Semi-Finalist of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He is also a recipient of the inaugural 2019 Gerda Lissner IVC Award and was a Grand Finalist in the 2018 COC Ensemble competition.