site.btaPolish-Canadian Soprano Karoline Podolak to Play in Don Pasquale at Sofia Opera

Canadian-Polish operatic soprano Karoline Podolak will be a guest performer in Don Pasquale at the Sofia Opera and Ballet on October 29. She will play the role of Norina in one of Donizetti's most popular comic operas, the team said.

Podolak is known to Bulgarian audiences as Violetta from La Traviata.

The role of Don Pasquale himself will be played by the renowned bass Nikolay Petrov, who also performed the part at the premiere in 2019. Ventseslav Anastasov will play Dr. Malatesta. Reinaldo Droz, whose career began on the stage of the Sofia Opera and Ballet, returns in the role of Ernesto. Alexander Georgiev plays the Notary.

The director of the performance is Svetozar Donev, and the conductor is Zhorzh Dimitrov. The set design and costumes are by Nela Stoyanova. The choir conductor is Violeta Dimitrova.

Karoline Podolak was born in Toronto in 1993. She began her musical journey playing the violin and the guitar, and took part in local theatre productions. She completed an honours Dramatic Arts diploma at Cawthra Park Secondary School. She then completed an honours undergraduate degree at Ryerson University's RTA School of Media (Radio and Television Arts), and has years of extensive experience in the media industry. She has experience as an actress and in voiceover work, modelling, and is an award-winning photographer. During her undergraduate studies, she discovered her passion for classical singing through private lessons with vocal coach Kinga Mitrowska, with whom she studies to this day. Most recently she was awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit from the President of Poland for her contributions as an artist.