Mark Coles

Mark Coles was born in Philadelphia, PA. He spent his childhood in Liberia, West Africa. After returning to the US., he visited the John Bowne High School, New York, where he gained his first experiences in music theatre. He completed his singing studies in opera and concert at the Kent State University.

After winning the First Prize at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions,  Mark Coles was invited to the Merola Opera Program, San Francisco. At the San Francisco Opera Center, he sang Leporello (Don Giovanni) in a tour of Western Opera Theaters.

At San Francisco Opera, he sang Starek (Jenufa, 1986), Hans Foltz (Die Meistersinger, 1986) and in took part in the video production of La Bohème in 1988.

Mark Coles was a finalist at the Belvedere-Opera-Competition in Vienna. He was invited to sing Arnold (The english Cat by Hans-Werner Henze) – this production was recorded by Wergo CD. At the Berliner Kammeroper, he sang among others Bartolo in Paisiello’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. As follows, he was engaged to the Städtischen Bühnen Münster from 1990 to 1998.

There, he sang among others Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Henry VII (Anna Bolena), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Don Pasquale and Audry II in the Musical Little Shop of Horror as well as the title role in Sweeney Todd.

In 1998 he sang Banco (Macbeth) in Coburg and Passau, Sparafucile (Rigoletto) in Aachen, Mannheim and Coburg and the Bass solo part in the 14. Symphony of Schostakovitsch under the baton of Hiroshi Kodama. Guest engagements leaded him back to the Opera of Münster, where he sang Zuniga (Carmen) and Charlie in Also Wolves have Heartattacks (a collection of Kurt Weill compositions as Mahagonny-Songspiel, Lindberg-Flug and The Berlin Requiem). The staging was by Lorenzo Fioroni. Further engagements followed in Kopenhagen and Aarhus with the part of Joe in Showboat.

Im 2003 Mark Coles sang again at San Francisco Opera the part of the old prisoner in Lady Macbeth of Mzensk in a production by Johannes Schaaf under the baton of  Donald Runnicles. He gave his debut at Opera North as Sarastro (The Magic Flute).

At the world premiere performance of Michael Levina’a Les Nègres (after Jean Genet) in January 2004 at Opéra de Lyon, he sang the role of the missioner under the baton of Bernhard Kontarsky.

In autumn 2004 Mark Coles sang at San Francisco Opera the part of Sagrestano (Tosca) and in  2005 Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs des Perles). In 2006 he sang Joe (Showboat) in the Royal Albert Hall in London in a production by Francesca Zambello, David Charles Abell conducting the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In January 2007 he sang Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at the Opera of Münster and guested as Stephano in Zdenek Fibichs The Storm (after Shakespeare) at the Theater Bielefeld. In 2008 he sang several parts in the world premiere of the opera Kleist by Rainer Rubbert at the Theater Brandenburg.

In October 2009, Mark Coles sang the part of Snug in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the first opera production of the newly re-opened Teator Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy. The opera is being directed by Daniele Abbado and conducted by Jonathan Webb. 2010 and 2011 he spends mostly on concert tours.

Mark Coles' website