Mark Kurmanbayev

Full Biography

Young bass Mark Kurmanbayev is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most exciting emerging basses of his generation. Recognised for his richly resonant bass, noble dark timbre and commanding stage presence, he has already appeared with many of Europe’s leading opera houses, including the Bayerische Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Dutch National Opera, and Baden-Baden Easter Festival. Equally at home in the Italian, French, German, and Russian repertoire, Kurmanbayev has earned widespread critical acclaim for his “well-marked, well-projected and expressive voice,” his “warm, rounded tone,” and his “velvety timbre and expressive phrasing.”

In the 2026/27 season, Mark Kurmanbayev joins the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he makes several important role debuts including Colline in Götz Friedrich’s La Bohème under the baton of Giampaolo Bisanti and Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, staged by Katharina Thalbach and conducted by Giovanni Conti. Alongside his debut as Cesare Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca with Antonino Fogliani conducting the production by Boleslaw Barlog, Kurmanbayev also appears as Zuniga in Carmen, Surin in Pique Dame, Lodovico in Otello, the Monk,  in Don Carlo, and the First Soldier in Salome, further expanding his repertoire on one of Germany’s leading operatic stages. Kurmanbayev also returns to Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège as Matous in Smetana’s Hubička staged by Éric Chevalier and conducted by Michael Güttler.

Recent highlights include Publio (La clemenza di Tito), Grech (Fedora), Doctor Grenvil (La traviata), Biterolf (Tannhäuser), Lo Zio Bonzo (Madama Butterfly), Haly (L’italiana in Algeri), and the bass solo in Graals at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Joe (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny), Doctor Grenvil (La traviata), Second Priest and Second Armoured Man (Die Zauberflöte), The Messenger (Oedipus Rex), Sir Gualtiero Raleigh (Roberto Devereux), and Guccio (Gianni Schicchi) with Dutch National Opera; Capulet (Roméo et Juliette) at Teatro di San Carlo; Surin and Narumov (Pique Dame) at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège; Gremin (Eugene Onegin) at The Grange Festival; Assur (Semiramide) with the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra; Narumov (Pique Dame) at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival; and L’enfant et les sortilèges at the World Opera Workshop.

The Kazakh bass gained his initial experience in his home of Serbia, where he performed regularly with the Belgrade Philharmonic before entering the studio of the Dutch National Opera. He has collaborated with conductors including Kirill Petrenko, Thomas Hengelbrock, Sesto Quatrini, Giampaolo Bisanti, Bassem Akiki, Enrique Mazzola.   Mark was a finalist in the 2025 Belvedere Competition.