BIOGRAPHY
His profession became the chemistry in which he graduated, and he excelled and won many awards in Czech Republic and abroad. He was awarded the prestigious prize of the Nobel Prize winner Jaroslav Heyrovsky for his benefits in analytical chemistry. However, at the age of 21, he attended Tosca (G. Puccini), and it fascinated him so much that he immediately began with the study of opera singing. From the beginning of his vocal career, he was taught by a longtime soloist of the National Theater in Prague, Václav Zítek, as a baritone. Jakub Pustina is a graduate of many master classes, such as Peter Dvorský or Gabriela Beňačková.
He has won several awards from international singing competitions. In 2005 he won the first prize at the A. Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary and in 2006 he debuted at the State Opera Theater in Kosice, Slovakia, as Valentin at Gounod's Faust and Margarethe. Other roles were not long awaited and Jakub Pustina performed on stage of the State Opera in Košice (Slovakia), the National Theater in Bratislava (Slovakia), the National Theater in Prague (Czech Republic), the Moravian Theater in Olomouc (Czech Republic), the South Bohemian Theater in České Budějovice (Czech Republic) or the J.K.Tyl Theater in Plzeň (Czech Republic) as Belcore (G. Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore), Escamillo (G.Bizet - Carmen), Lord Enrico (G.Donizetti - Lucia of Lammermoor), Germont (G. Verdi - La Traviatta), Eugene Onegin (P.I.Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin), Ambrosio (K.M. von Weber – Die drei Pintos), Silvio (R. Leoncavallo - Pagliacci), Alfio (P. Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana), Mercutio (Ch.Gounod - Romeo and Juliet), baritone solo (C. Orff - Carmina Burana), Bartenstein (R. Baumgartner - Maria Theresia) or Count Luna (G. Verdi - Trubadur). His favourite operetta role is without a doubt Gabriel von Eisenstein (J. Strauss - Die Fledermaus). He was singing alongside Peter Dvorský, José Cura, Gabriela Beňačková or Eva Urbanová.
In 2008 he founded the International Singing Opera Competition as a program to support young talented singers from around the world. This competition presents singers from more than 60 countries around the world. Jakub Pustina also won the Highest Award of the Vysočina Region, Czech Republic for a contribution in the field of culture in 2008.
Since 2014, Jakub Pustina, in cooperation with the legendary soprano Gabriela Beňačková (soprano), has begun to devote himself to the vocal field of a dramatic tenor and debuted at the Panama National Theater as Canio (R. Leoncavallo - Pagliacci).
At present, he is mainly concerned with the interpretation of R. Wagner, L. Janacek, B. Smetana and P.I. Tchaikovsky. Richard Wagner's work he has also presented at Richard Wagner's most prestigious festival in Bayreuth, Germany, where he also attended the Michelle Breedt's Master class for Wagner Singers. In 2016, he performed a demanding tenor part in Janáček's Glagolitic mass, which he sang under the baton of Charles Olivier-Munroe in Czech Republic and abroad.
After successful presentation of his voice at the WAGNERSTIMMEN international competition in Karlsruhe, the international company of the R. Wagner selected him for a Singapore's project, where he debuted in 2016 as Erik in The Flying Dutchman by R.Wagner. In the same year he also returns to Panama, this time as Macduff (G. Verdi - Macbeth).
In his tenor repertoire we find the role of Dalibor (B. Smetana - Dalibor), Siegmund (R. Wagner - Die Walküre), Parsifal (R. Wagner - Parsifal), Herman (P.I.Tchaikovsky – Pique Dame) and – Laca, Steva (L.Janacek - Jenufa).
The audience was able to hear his voice with the accompaniment of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the Hradec Kralova Philharmonic Orchestra, the North Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra of Teplice, the Plzen Philharmonic or the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been also accompanied by symphonic orchestras or piano in many countries such as Poland, Russia, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg, Denmark, Slovakia, America, Singapore, Panama, Australia and New Zealand.
He improves his singing with the legendary soprano, Kammersängerin Gabriela Beňačková (soprano) and the Vice President of the International Society of R. Wagner Prof. Alessandra Althoff-Pugliese.