BIO

With his commanding stage presence, versatile voice, and acting skills, Dutch baritone Peter Bording is equally in demand across opera, operetta, musical theatre, and contemporary music​

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His operatic repertoire ranges from Mozart's Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), and Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) to roles like Scarpia (Tosca), Tonio (Pagliacci), and Rigoletto.
He has performed the title roles in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Pelléas et Mélisande at venues including the Wiener Festwochen at Theater an der Wien, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Staatsoper Hannover, the Dutch Touring Opera, the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen, the Oper Graz, and the Royal Concertgebouw.

His portrayal of Pelléas earned him a nomination for “Singer of the Year” by Opernwelt.

Dedicated to contemporary music, he has created leading roles in world premieres of Eötvös’ Lady Sarashina, Jarrell’s Galilée, and Bagwathi’s Ramanujan in Paris, Lyon, Geneva, and at the Munich Biennale.
He has appeared at the Bregenzer Festspiele in Kurt Weill’s Der Protagonist as Der junge Herr and in Royal Palace as Der Geliebte von gestern, and at the Richard Strauss Festival as Da-Ud in Die ägyptische Helena and excels in rarely performed works, as Peer Gynt in Werner Egk’s opera, in the title role in Gottfried von Einem’s Dantons Tod, and as John Proctor in Robert Ward’s The Crucible.

 

He is widely recognized as an outstanding interpreter of Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) and Danilo (Die lustige Witwe) - roles he has performed in over 25 productions worldwide. He also stars in Barrie Kosky’s productions of Orpheus in the Underworld as Jupiter, Die Perlen der Cleopatra as Florian Silvius, Kiss Me, Kate as Fred Graham/Petruchio, La Cage aux folles as Georges, and Marinka as Joseph Bratfisch in the European premiere of Kálmán’s Broadway musical.

He was the original Mr. André in the first Dutch production of The Phantom of the Opera (1993), and in Cats (1987) at Theater Carré he appeared as both Gus the Theatre Cat and Old Deuteronomy.

He originated the role of Antonio in the Kanyar/Fassbaender-musical Shylock and performed in the Austrian premieres of Korngold’s Die stumme Serenade as Andrea Coclé for the MusikTheater an der Wien and of Marinka at Oper Graz, reprising his role as Joseph Bratfisch.

 

As a concert singer, his repertoire includes Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He made his U.S. debut in the St. Matthew Passion at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

 

Since his house debut as Eisenstein in 2014, Peter has been a regular guest at the Komische Oper Berlin.
He performs at renowned opera and concert venues worldwide, including the Bregenzer Festspiele, the Wiener Festwochen, the Munich Biennale, the MusikTheater an der Wien, the Opéra national de Paris, the Opéra-Comique Paris, the Opéra de Lyon, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Hungarian State Opera, the Polish National Opera, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Staatsoper Hannover, and many other theatres across Europe, Japan, and the United States.
He was the principal lyric baritone at Staatstheater Braunschweig (1995–1997), Staatstheater Darmstadt (1997–2000), the Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen (2000–2011) and returned to Staatstheater Braunschweig 2015–2017 on a residency contract, during which he significantly expanded his repertoire.

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He has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Philippe Auguin, Peter Eötvös, Adam Fischer, Yakov Kreizberg, Mstislav Rostropovich, Stefan Soltesz, Lothar Zagrosek, and Koen Schoots, as well as distinguished directors including Barrie Kosky, Dietrich W. Hilsdorf, Johannes Schaaf, Nicolas Brieger, Brigitte Fassbaender, Frank van Laecke, and Ushio Amagatsu.

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His current and upcoming engagements include his role debut as Pluto in a new production of Orpheus in der Unterwelt at the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl. He will return to the Komische Oper Berlin as Georges in La Cage aux folles and as Achill in Die schöne Helena, and to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Pitkin in a new production of Bernstein's On the Town.​​

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Peter Bording studied voice with Jan Handerson, received his formal vocal and theatrical training at the Music-Drama Department of the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam, graduating cum laude, and completed advanced studies in Opera Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.