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B i o g r a p h y

Originally from Belgium, Kris moved to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and went on to study on the Opera Course at the Royal Scottish Academy. Whilst at the Academy he performed the roles of Mercurio in La Calisto by Cavalli, Bretigny in Manon, Ramiro in L’heure Espagnole, Marco in Gianni Schicchi, and for the Arts Theatre in Cambridge, Masetto in Don Giovanni.

After graduating he covered the roles of Dandini La Cenerentola and Belcore L’elisir d’amore for Grange Park Opera, and performed Papageno Die Zauberflöte in Belgium, as well as Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte for Opera En Plein Air.

 

On the UK stage he has performed both Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro (Longborough Festival Opera) and Figaro (Brownsea Island Festival), Don Giovanni (Hampstead Garden Opera), Marcello La Bohème (Oyster Opera), Don Alfonso Cosi fan tutte (Oyster Opera), Marchese La Traviata (Longborough Festival Opera), Sprecher The Magic Flute (Oyster Opera) and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas.

 

He made his debut at the Opéra de Rennes as Fiorello Il Barbiere di Sevilla, and returned in the same production at the Opera de Rouen and Opera de Tourcoign.

He has appeared at the Nationale Reisopera in The Netherlands as Marchese d’Obigny La traviata and Blazes The Lighthouse, and for International Opera Productions as Dr Falke Die Fledermaus and Dancairo Carmen.

In Belgium he sang Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Momus/Cold Genius King Arthur, and the Componist in Des Schauspieldirektor. He also made his debut at the Royal Opera La Monnaie in La Traviata, where he has subsequently returned in Daphne, Capriccio, and most recently as Làpak in The Cunning Little Vixen. He also debuted at the Nederlands Opera as the unsuccessful player in The Gambler, and at English National Opera in the world premiere of Tansy Davies' Between Worlds.

 

As part of the cultural Olympiad at the Purcell Room, Kris created the roles of Schade/Mr Bata in the world-premiere of Emily Howard’s Zatopek!, and the lead role in Philip Venables’ Unleashed.

As a prize winner of the Armel International Opera Competition, Kris created the role of Headmaster in Parody by Kerek Gabor, for Plzen JK Tyl Opera, and appeared live on ARTE from the Erkel Theatre in Budapest.

 

On the concert stage he has performed Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt in Reims cathedral, the Bach Passions and B Minor Mass in Stuttgart and Munich, Mozart Requiem at St Eustache in Paris, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn's Creation and The Seasons, Lully’s Thésée on European concert tour with William Christie and the Academy Baroque d’Ambronnay.

Recently he sang Scharpless in a concert version of Madama Butterfly with the Lambeth Symphony Orchestra in London.

 

Kris took part in masterclasses with Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen, Elly Ameling, Graham Johnson and Malcolm Martineau, and performed under Nicholas McGeegan and Michael Tilson Thomas at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

 

This season, projects include Kris' debut at Opera-Ballet Flanders in Hèctor Parra's new Opera Les Bienveillantes, Thomas Brown in The Zoo for the Odegand Festival, and a series of Bernstein Centenary concert performances of West Side Story in Rome, with the Accademia Santa Cecilia and maestro Antonio Pappano.

kris belligh
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