Gregory Yurisich was born in Perth, Australia, was one of the world’s leading baritones for more than a decade and is described by Placido Domingo as his favourite baritone. His portrayals of the great Verdi repertory earned him tremendous critical acclaim - “phenomenal” and “overwhelming” described his portrayal of the title role of Nabucco for the Bregenz Festival, Austria and later for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and in Geneva. Other acclaimed performances include the title role Rigoletto in Israel, Athens and Australia; title role Simon Boccanegra for the English National Opera; title role Falstaff in Australia and the USA; Germont La Traviata for San Francisco Opera, The Australian Opera and in Tel Aviv and Geneva; Iago Otello with Placido Domingo for the Los Angeles Opera and in Brisbane; Stankar Stiffelio for the Royal Opera which is also available on video; and Amonasro Aida for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Mr Yurisich performed repeatedly in all the major opera houses and concert halls of the world partnered with the leading singers of our time including Dame Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Jose Cura, Roberto Alagna, Karita Mattila, Renata Scotto, Samuel Ramey, Sumi Jo, Renee Fleming, Dolora Zajick, Fiorenza Cossotto, John Tomlinson, Ruggero Raimondi, Martti Talvela and Gerald Finley. He collaborated with the greatest conductors of our time including Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Richard Bonynge, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Geoffrey Tate, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Edward Downes, Sir Mark Elder, Gary Bertini, Jose Serebrier, Daniel Oren, Sir Charles Mackerras, Marcello Viotti, Michel Plasson, Edo de Waart, Carlo Rizzi, Evelino Pido, Antonio Pappano, Donald Runnicles, Jacques Delacote and Sylvain Cambreling.
Other memorable performances include Barak Die Frau Ohne Schatten for the Melbourne International Festival winning him a Green Room Award for Best Male Artist in a Principal Role; Scarpia Tosca for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, at the Hong Kong Festival, and also available on the Chandos label; title role Guillaume Tell for the Royal Opera Covent Garden; Escamillo Carmen for the English National Opera and Bavarian State Opera, Munich and also available on the Chandos label; title tole Rigoletto at Deutsche Oper, Berlin with Claudio Abbado, Telramund Lohengrin for the Victoria State Opera winning him a Green Room Award for Best Male Artist in a supporting role; Balstrode in the French Premiere of Peter Grimes at the Chatelet Paris, La Monnaie, Brussels, Hamburg Opera and the Weiner Staatsoper; the Four VillainsLes Contes d’Hoffmann for Opera de Paris at the Bastille, Weiner Staatsoper, The Australian Opera and for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. For the Deutsche Staatsoper unter den Linden he sang Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and Tonio in Pagliacci. He also recorded Leporello in Don Giovanni (EMI), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (Chandos) and Amonasro in Aida (Chandos).
Gregory Yurisich has made many international appearances on the concert platform, highlights include Revival of the Dead with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic; Mahler’s Eighth Symphonyfor the Edinburgh Festival; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic andSir Simon Rattle, Mass for Rossini for Opera de Lyon; Alberich Siegfried in concert with the Melbourne Symphony and Sir Charles Mackerras as well as numerable performances with Richard Bonynge. He worked tirelessly for The Princes Trust whilst resident in Britain and has performed for Prince Charles a number of times, the last being live on BBC television with Dame Kiri te Kanawa to open Waterfront Hall in Belfast for which he was awarded the City of Belfast Medal. He sang the role of Tonio in Washington in the Franco Zefferelli production of Pagliacci with Placido Domingo which is available on DVD. Many of his performances with Dame Joan Sutherland and José Carreras are also available on DVD.
After almost forty years as a soloist, Gregory Yurisich retired from the operatic stage ... his final role was the High Priest of Dagon Samson and Delilah with Denyce Graves and Placido Domingo ... to take up the position of Adjunct Professor at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) where he taught both classical and music theatre singers before moving on to create the Australian Opera Studio, a national training institute for operatic performers in the Indian/Pacific region. In May 2004 he was one of five artists honoured for their contribution to the Arts as part ofthe centenary celebrations of His Majesty’s Theatre Perth and in 2005 he was made a Member of theOrder of Australia for his services to the Arts and the mentoring of young performers. When he is not giving masterclasses, Mr Yurisich continues to teach singers, the majority of whom are working around the world.
AWARDS
MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA for services to opera and the mentoring of young artists.
CENTENARY OF HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE MEDAL for services to the Arts.
CITY OF BELFAST MEDAL for the opening of Waterfront Hall.
GREEN ROOM AWARD for best male artists in a supporting role for FREIDRICH OF TELRAMUND.
GREEN ROOM AWARD for best male artists in a principal role for BARAK.
SIR LAWRENCE OLIVIER AWARD for best opera production STIFFELIO.
