Shadi Torbey was born in Sieburg, Germany in 1976. After graduating in Roman literature as well as in Cultural management at the University of Brussels, he earned the highest degrees in Opera and Concert at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. His vocal training was completed at the Opéra Studio of La Monnaie and with José van Dam at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth.

In 1999 he was awarded the “prix de la vocation” at the Singing Contest of Verviers, in 2001 he got the “Voix d’or” at the Voix d’Or competition and in 2004 he got the 3rd prize at the prestigious Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth.

He had the privilege to work with conductors such as William Christie, Bruno Bartoletti, Marcello Viotti, Patrick Davin, Eduardo Lopez-Banzo, Paul McCreesh, Evelino Pidò, Philip Pickett, Roy Goodman, Laurence Equilbey and such stage directors as Stéphane Braunschweig, Robert Carsen, Antonio Latella, Gérard Corbiau, Pier-Luigi Pizzi, Karl-Ernst and Ursel Herrmann…

In the oratorio field, he has sung the solo part in St. John Passion (J.S. Bach), The Creation, Stabat Mater (Haydn), Requiem (Mozart), The Messiah, Judas Macchabeus (Handel), Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini) as well as in Das Paradies und die Peri (Schumann). He furthermore appeared as Abner in Handel’s Athalia under Paul McCreesh at the Adadèmie d’Ambronnay, in Toulouse, Saint-Etienne and Tours. He sang Abramo in Scarlatti’s Cantata per la Notte di Natale with El Ayre Español under Eduardo Lopez Banzo in Zaragoza, and was the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah under Roy Goodman with the Chor pro musica in Graz.

He has performed many song and Lieder recitals with pianists Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Fritz Schwinghammer and Eugene Asti, and recorded a CD of Mélodies Françaises by Séverac, Meyerbeer and Saint-Saëns for Cypres.

On stage those last seasons he sang Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress) in Brussels, Leporello (Don Giovanni) in Rouen, Le Tambour Major (Le Caïd) in Metz and Lord Rochefort (Anna Bolena) in Lyon, Paris and Dortmund. He appeared as Ministre Boréen and covered the role of Borré for Laurent Naouri in Rameaux’ opera Les Boréades with the Ensemble Les Artes Florissantes under William Christie at the Opéra de Paris as well as in London and New York. Shadi sang the part of Caronte in Monteverdi’s Orfeo under Philip Picket at the Opéra de Lyon, and appeared in the title-role of Mattheson’s opera Boris Goudenow in Saint-Petersburg, Moscow and Hamburg with the ensemble Early Music Russia under Andrej Reshtin. He was Lord Sidney, Il Viaggio a Reims, Rossini in a co-production of the Opéra National de Montpellier, Théâtre Du Capitole de Toulouse, Grand Théâtre de Reims, Opéra National Lorraine Nancy, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra National de Bordeaux and others under the patronage of Alberto Zedda from 2008-10. In the 2010/11 season, Shadi Torbey appeared as the Speaker in Mozart’s Magic Flute in a co-production of the Teatro Sociale di Como and the Teatro Fraschini di Pavia. He sang Carrasco in Mendelssohn’s Die Hochzeit des Camacho with the Royal Liverpool Orchestra (CD-production), the part of Alidor in concert performances of Liszt’s opera Don Sanche in London and at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with the European Union Youth Orchestra under Laurent Pillot, and appeared as Isménor in a new production of Rameau’s Dardanus by the European Opera Centre and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2011/12 Shadi will make his debut in the title-role of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Aachen Theatre.

Recent concerts included Mendelssohn’s Elias with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, and the world première of the multi-media-creation “Theseus” by Chris Christoffels. In 2011 Shadi Torbey appeared in Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass and in Verdi’s Requiem under Enoch zu Guttenberg at the International Herrenchiemsee Festspiele and at the Europäische Festwochen Passau.

Last Update September 2011