LEI Mingjie

Young Chinese tenor Mingjie Lei is the winner of the Song Prize and a finalist of the general competition Cardiff singer of the World 2019.

Among his plans are a tour with musicAeterna and Teodor Currentzis perfoming Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Lucerne Festival and in Bremen, Don Narciso in Il Turo in Italia in Zurich and Ferrando in Così fan tutte in Antwerp.

Since the beginning of the 2018/19 season he belongs to the ensemble of Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he gave his unexpected early debut as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. His repertoire in Stuttgart includes, among others, Der Prinz von Homburg, Iphigénie en Tauride, Ariadne auf Naxos and Così fan tutte.

2018 he appeared as Fenton in Falstaff at Opera Colorado and Egeo in Medea in Corinto at New York’s Teatro Nuovo.

In summer 2017 he guested at Salzburg Festival in the part of Jeppo Liverotto in concert performances of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia conducted by Marco Armiliato.

2016/17 he performed at Lyric Opera Chciago Iopas in Les Troyens, Remenado in Carmen and Gastone in a special performance of La Traviata celebrating Plácido Domingo. At the Ravello Festival he was hear in the New Voice of Opera concert.

2015/16 he joined the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble of Lyric Opera of Chicago and was soon performing on the stage of Lyric Opera in performances of Der Rosenkavalier and Romeo et Juliette.

Highlights of past seasons include Nemorino in L'Elisir d’Amore, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Almeric in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Dorvil in Rossini's La Scala di seta and Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Curtis Opera Theatre, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Banff Music Festival; at Manhatten School of Music he sang Leon in Corgliano’s The Ghoast of Versailles and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Thomas Muraco's Opera Repertoire Ensemble.

As Young Collector in Previn’s A Streetcar named Desire and as Jupiter in Händel’s Semele he guested with the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera at the Schwabacher summer concerts.

As a concert singer he performed, among others, Haydn’s Schöpfung, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium and Matthäus-Passion, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella or Händel’s Messias (at Carnegie Hall) and Semele in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia or Chicago.

In Chicago he was part of the concert cycle Beyond the arias and also appeared with the New York Festival of Song performing with Composer Bright Sheng.

Mingjie Lei has already worked with conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Ari Pelto, Jacques Lacombe, Cornelius Meister and Mark Shapiro.

When attending the Mozart Residency of Festival Aix-en-Provence he received the Prix des amis for the best Mozart performance.

Mingjie Lei studied at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He took part in the Merola Program of San Francisco Opera and was a member of the Ryan Opera Centre at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In summer 2016 he participated in the Young Singers Program of Salzburg festival, where he featured in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and in concerts with Salzburg Camerata and the Mozarteum orchestra.

09/2019