Nicolas Courjal

French bass Nicolas Courjal made his Royal Opera debut in 2010 as Zuniga (Carmen) and that year sang Le Comte Des Grieux (Manon) on the Company’s Japan tour. His roles since for the Company include First Soldier (Salome), Alberti (Robert le diable), Gesler (Guillaume Tell), Zuniga (Carmen) and High Priest (Oedipe) for The Royal Opera.

Courjal was born in Rennes and trained there and at the Paris Conservatoire. On graduation he joined the companies of the Opéra Comique and Wiesbaden State Theatre. He has sung widely in France, with companies including Paris Opéra, the Théâtre du Chatelet and Capitole Toulouse, for the Chorégies d’Orange and in Marseille, Nice, Montpellier, Avignon, Lyon, Boredeux, Nantes and Geneva, as well as in Venice and Monte Carlo. His repertory includes many of the major French roles for bass, among a wide range of other roles.

He is a prolific concert performer, his repertory including Dvorák’s Stabat Mater, Le Damnation de Faust, Saint François d’Assise and songs by Ibert and Duparc. He is a keen supporter of contemporary work, and has performed in the premieres of pieces by Fenelon, Constant, Petitgirard and Dusapin.