Dennis Chmelensky

Berlin-native baritone DENNIS CHMELENSKY studies at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of renowned instructors Mikael Eliasen and Marlena Malas.

Following a five week series of performance masterclasses in Vienna with Helmut Deutsch, Julius Drake, and Elly Ameling, highlights of the young baritone’s 2015-16 season include Schaunard in La bohème, Paul in the world premiere of Rene Orth and Mark Campbell’s Empty The House for Curtis Opera Theater, as well as his return to the Chautaqua Music Festival to sing Papageno in Die Zabuerflöte.  Dennis Chmelensky's operatic credits feature Schaunard (La Boheme), Blansac (La Scala di Seta), First Officer (Dialogues of the Carmelites) and Spinellocchio (Gianni Schicci), among others.

Dennis Chmelensky has performed as a soloist with the Deutsche Kammersymphonie, Staats und Domchor Berlin, Singakademie Berlin, Lautten Compagney Berlin and Philharmonie Süd-Rheinwestfalen in such prestigious venues as Gewandhaus Leipzig, Berlin Dome, Radialsystem Berlin, Kimmel Center Philadelphia, and the Prince Music Theater. Recitals and Concerts brought him to Vienna, Köln and the United States.

Recent scholarship recipient of the Kempinski Young Arts Program, He was awarded scholarships by the Richard Wagner Society (2013), and the Bürgerstiftung Siegen under the patronage of Rolf H. Brunswig (since 2013).  Chmelensky is a first prize winner of the national council competition Jugend Musiziert Germany (2008), he has received the Engelbert Humperdinck Prize (2008), the European Hope Prize by the European Foundation for Culture (2009) and the Bärenreiter Foundation Prize (2008). His debut album, DENNIS, was released in 2009 by Sony Music.

He began violin lessons at the age of six, and voice and piano lessons at the age of seven. He previously attended the Universität der Künste Berlin where he studied with Heide Görtz, Kai-Uwe Jirka, and others. As a boy-soprano, Dennis Chmelensky has performed with the Staatskapelle Berlin, Staats und Domchor Berlin, Deutsches Symphonieorchester and Kapellsoloist's Dresden in such prestigious venues as Phiharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie Köln and Berlin State Opera. Recitals and Concerts brought him to Schottland, Spain, Russia, Serbia and the US.

This bio is from 2017. For more up to date information, please visit  https://www.dennischmelensky.com/!