In more than 15 productions as Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, as well as numerous appearances in all of the core Rossini and Donizetti bass roles, Damon Nestor Ploumis has established a reputation as an imposing singing actor in the comic Bass repertoire.
With an affinity for the virtuosic music of Rossini, Mr. Ploumis’ Bartolo has been heard in Helsinki, Stockholm, Salzburg, Athens, New York and London, as well as in Belgium, Ireland ant throughout Germany and Austria. As Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, his appearances include the Finnish National Opera, Tiroler Landeshteater Innsbruck, Theater Bremen, Theater Bielefeld, Stadttheater Münster, Stadttheater Gießen, and Landestheater Niederbayern . In addition to his singing Don Profondo in Il Viaggio a Reims in both Germany and Switzerland, he sang the role at the Finnish National Opera in the renowned production by Nobel prizewinner Dario Fo, which was broadcast live throughout Europe.
Appearing as a guest artist, Mr. Ploumis also specializes in the lyric bel canto repertoire of Donizetti, with roles including the title role in Don Pasquale, as well as Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore. Singing Dulcamara in Jonathan Miller’s production at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, he has also appeared as Don Pasquale at Landesbühnen Sachsen, Theater Hof and the Festival Vezère.
Equally at home in the music of Mozart, his performances include Figaro, Bartolo, Papageno, der Sprecher, Leporello and Don Alfonso in Cyprus, the USA, Canada, and throughout Germany. Further roles performed include Mephistopheles, in both Faust and La Damnation de Faust, Ramfis in Aida, Capulet in Roméo et Juliette and Marquis de la Force in Les Dialogues des Carmélites.
The 2017-2018 season saw Damon Nestor Ploumis making his role and house debut as Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Additionally that season, he sang three role debuts for the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar: Rocco in Fidelio, Lodovico in Otello, and Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Last season Mr. Ploumis reprised one of his signature roles – Don Pasquale – for das Meininger Theater, as well as singing Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore at the Lismore Festival in Ireland. Other performances included a role début singing Tierbändiger / Ein Athlet in Berg’s Lulu at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar.
Damon Nestor Ploumis returned in 2015 to the Lismore Festival, singing Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, as well as directing the production. He also appeared at Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, as well as at Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, in his signature role of Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviiglia, at Landestheater Linz as Don Pasquale, as well as completeing a successful concert tour throughout mainland China. Highlights of his 2014-2015 season included his role debut as Tevje in Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof) for Theater Regensburg, as well as his return to Ireland to sing Don Magnificio in La Cenerentola for the Lismore Music Festival. In addition to his having been engaged as a guest Director at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Mr. Ploumis has also directed Aida in Beijing, La Cenerentola, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor and Così fan tutte at Theater Rudolstadt, as well as being invited to give masterclasses in Chile and at the Curso Internacional de Verão de Brasilia – Civebra in Brazil. He also sits on the international jury of the Concurso Internaciaonal de Canto Francisco Viñas, and the China International Vocal Competition (Ningbo).
Damon Nestor Ploumis studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and is also an alumnus of the Merola Progam at the San Francisco Opera. Following his time in San Francisco, he joined the International Opera Studio in Zürich, where he sang the role of Capulet in Roméo et Juliette on the mainstage, as well as the title role in Pimpinone, and Antonio in Les Brigands. Beginning his career as a soloist at Landestheater Schleswig-Holstein, his roles included Falstaff in Die lustigen Weiber von Winsdsor, von Kottwitz in Der Prinz von Hamburg, Warlaam in Boris Godunow, and Gessler in Wilhelm Tell. Subsequently joining the ensemble at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, his appearances included the roles of Figaro, Papageno and Colline. As a guest artist in Weimar over the last ten years, Mr. Ploumis has sung the title role in Don Pasquale, Baron Zeta in Die lustige Witwe, as well as roles in several baroque and modern operas.
In addition to his singing schedule, Damon Nestor Ploumis is the founder and General Director of Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, now in its thirteenth season. Having had more than one thousand students form 72 different countries under his tutelage, the program has established itself as one of the leading studios in Germany.