Burak Bilgili

Burak Bilgili is a Turkish operatic bass-baritone who was born in Akşehir, a town in the Konya Province of Turkey. He has sung in leading opera houses in the United States and Europe.

Initially, he studied at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul and later with San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program, and at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia from which he graduated in 2004. He also studied in Italy with Bonaldo Giaotti and Katia Ricciarelli at the Accademia Lirica Internazionale "Katia Ricciarelli" in Parma. In 2003, he became Turkey's first ever representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

His stage debut came in 1998 when he sang Don Geronio in Rossini's Il turco in Italia with the Turkish State Opera in Istanbul. He also sang with the company the following year as Abimelech in Camille Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah. In 2002 while still a student at the Academy of Vocal Arts, he made his international debut as Duke Alfonso in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at La Scala, followed by a series of other house debuts before he graduated. These included his US debut at the Baltimore Opera as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto in 2002; appearances at both the Vancouver Opera and Pittsburgh Opera as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in 2003; and performances as Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor both at the Palm Beach Opera and at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in 2003.