The renowned bassist Tareq Nazmi completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich under the guidance of Edith Wiens and Christian Gerhaher, as well as privately with Hartmut Elbert. He began his career at the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera, where he was a member of the Munich ensemble until 2016.
Through his expressive role portrayals, Nazmi has become a sought-after performer on international opera stages. Highlights of recent seasons include his performance as Sarastro at the Salzburg Festival in 2022, following his international breakthrough in 2021 with the role of the Speaker. In 2023, he impressed at the summer festivals with his first Italian role as Banco in Verdi's Macbeth (directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski), before returning to Salzburg in the 2023/24 season as Alvise in La Gioconda at the Easter Festival under the direction of Antonio Pappano. Invited by Franz Welser-Möst, he shone in Cleveland as Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute and later at the Munich Opera Festival as Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore and as Gurnemanz in Wagner's Parsifal. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as King Heinrich in Wagner's Lohengrin. Other important roles in his extensive repertoire include Filippo II in Verdi's Don Carlo, Zaccaria in Nabucco, and Hunding in Die Walküre.
In the 2024/25 season, Tareq Nazmi will continue his successful career with several significant debuts. He will perform the role of King Marke in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde for the first time at both the Grand Théâtre de Genève and with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additionally, he will be seen at the Theater an der Wien as Oroveso in a new production of Bellini's Norma and will make a house and role debut as Gremin at the Dresden Semperoper. Another outstanding engagement this season is his return as Gurnemanz in Wagner's Parsifal at the Tokyo Spring Festival. He will also perform the bass part in Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the direction of Daniel Harding, and will once again appear as Pater Profundus in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Jordan at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
As a sought-after concert soloist, Tareq Nazmi has a versatile repertoire that spans works from Bach to Beethoven, from Haydn to Brahms, and from Mozart to Dvořák and Mahler. He has already collaborated with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Harding, the Orquestra Gulbenkian under Alain Altinoglu, the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, as well as the Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble under Thomas Hengelbrock. As an ensemble bass, he has been heard in Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra under John Eliot Gardiner, on tour with Teodor Currentzis, and with the Berlin Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim. Other notable performances include Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in Munich under Kirill Petrenko, as well as concerts with the Munich Philharmonic under Philippe Herreweghe and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski.
As a lieder singer, Tareq Nazmi recently performed with Gerold Huber at the Schubertiade Hohenems, in Munich, Cologne, and at London's Wigmore Hall. In spring 2023, he performed Schubert's Winterreise at the Tokyo Spring Festival.
