Fabian-Jakob Balkhausen

German bass Fabian-Jakob Balkhausen is one of the most versatile young singers of his generation. Since the 2024/25 season, he has been a member of the ensemble at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, where he has established a broad repertoire ranging from comic precision to serious depth. His roles there have included the Sacristan in Tosca, Zuniga in Carmen, Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, the King in Fantasio, and the Speaker in Die zauberflöte. This season, he sang the Marquis d’Obigny in La traviata, the Hermit in Weber’s Der Freischütz, and Verwaltungsleiter Friedrich Hemmschuh in a world premiere operetta – Alles Liebe!, for which characterization he has been particularly praised by the press.

This summer, he will make his debut at the Salzburg Festival as the Lakai in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Fabian-Jakob studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW). On national and International stages he has sung Colline in La bohème and Mícha in The Bartered Bride at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, and made his debut as Sarastro at the Klassik-Klang-Festival Berndorf. In 2023 he performed multiple roles at the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory in New York, including Simone in Gianni Schicchi. In summer 2024 he joined the Bregenzer Festspiele Opera Studio and made his debut there as Betto di Signa in Gianni Schicchi.

He has worked with directors such as Pınar Karabulut, Wolfgang Nägele, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Tom Goosens, as well as with conductors such as Leo McFall, Marco Alibrando, and Cornelius Meister.

A passionate recital and oratorio singer with a repertoire spanning Baroque to contemporary works, he was a Britten Pears Young Artist last year, where he is returning this summer to sing the Doctor in Pelléas et Mélisande and is a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Foundation.