Canadian baritone Jonah Spungin, known for his “tremendous placement of voice and timbre” (Le Devoir), recently made his European mainstage debut in the role of Tsargo in the Swedish premiere of Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater with Norrlandsoperan. This followed closely on the heels of singing Jan Nyman in the Scandinavian premiere of Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves with Vadstena-akademien in the summer of 2022.
Spungin began the 2022/23 season singing King Dovid in the North American premiere of Henekh Kon's Yiddish opera Bas Sheve with the Ashkenaz Festival. Currently a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Spungin appeared on their stage as Dancaïre in Carmen and rounds off the season with Les Adieux – his final recital as a member of the Studio, which will be recorded and broadcast by the CBC – and covering the role of Marcus/Uncle in the world premiere of Pomegranate. With the COC, Spungin has also sung roles such as Marchese d'Obigny (La traviata), Marco (Gianni Schicchi), Second Priest (Die Zauberflöte), and John/Fantasma in the world premiere of Fantasma by Ian Cusson.
Spungin has also been a member of the opera studio at Calgary Opera, where he sang such roles as Marullo (Rigoletto), King Melchior (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Belcore in an English language touring production of L'elisir d'amore, and Athenodorus the Philosopher in the world premiere of Veronika Krausas's Ghost Opera. During this time he also joined the Calgary Philharmonic for a concert of Handel's Messiah excerpts, as well as understudying the title role in Mendelssohn's Elijah and ultimately stepping in for the concert.
Jonah holds a Master's in Voice and Opera from McGill University where he sang many roles with Opera McGill, such as Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) and Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor).
He won 2nd prize in the OCS New Discoveries Competition, is a laureate of Opéra de Montréal's Talent 2019 Competition and the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques Competition, was a finalist in the COC Centre Stage Competition, and a quarterfinalist in the Concours musical international de Montréal.
