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The American bass, Gary Jankowski, graduated from Shorecrest High School, Seattle, Washington in 1979. From 1980 to 1982 he had Musical Studies at Shoreline Community College, Seattle, Washington, and from from 1983 to 1987, Undergraduate Studies at Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington - Vocal Performance (Major) and Music History (Minor). He was active as a choral conductor of many student ensembles at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Music Director at Assumption Catholic Church, Seattle, Washington (1982-1984), Music Director of Crue Consort (Early Music), Bellingham, Washington (1984-1990), and Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, Washington (1990-1991From 1987 to 1990 he had Graduate Studies in Masters Program (Voice) at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. His voice teachers have included Marianne Weltman, Norman Phillips, Giorgio Tozzi, Svatava Subratová, Mark Schnaible, Patricia McCaffrey. He also attended the Lied Course of Leonard Hokanson, and master-classes with Carol Neblett, Marlena Malas, Mikael Eliason. In 1990 he was National Finalist at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.
From 1991 to 1993, Gary Jankowski was freelance singer in Chicago, Illinois and from 1993 to 1995 in in New York City. In the USA, he has appeared in the opera houses of Chicago, Milwaukee, Orlando, Indianapolis, San José and Cincinnati, as Sarastro, Osmin, the Commendatore, and as Colline in La Bohème. In 1995, he moved to Germany, and engagements in Nuremberg (fest: 1995-1997), Schwerin (guest: 1997-1998, fest: 1998-1999, guest: 1999-2002), Rostock (fest: 1997-1998), and Halle (Saale) (fest: 1999-2002) followed, with festival appearances at the Händel-Festspiele Halle, Festival Castell de Peralada, Donostia/San Sebastian, Schlossfestspiele Schwerin, Dorset Opera (1998-1999) and the Festungsspiele Ehrenbreitstein, in addition to guest appearances in Bremen, Kiel, Koblenz (1999-2002), Leipzig, Lübeck, Neustrelitz and Zwickau. Among his most important roles in Europe have been König Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Fafner in Das Rheingold, Ramfis in Aida, Basilio in Barber of Seville, and again Colline and the Commendatore. The Water Gnome in Rusalka, Osmin in Entführung aus dem Serail and Freiherr von Mordax in the award-winning world premiere production of Detlev Glanert's Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung are among his most recent projects. In May 2006, Gary Jankowski made his critically acclaimed debut as Baron Ochs von Lerchenau in Der Rosenkavalier.
Gary Jankowski has collaborated with the conductors: Klaus Weise, Jacques Delacôte, Miltiades Caridis, Michail Jurowski, Stefan Malzew, Rolf Reuter, Axel Kober, Joseph Rescigno, Anton Marik, Ivan Törzs, Roman Brogli-Sacher, Daniel Lipton, Kevin Murphy, David Briskin, Paul Nadler, Uriel Segal, Daniel Beckwith, Tim Shaindlin, Wolfgang Katschner, George Shangrow, Bruce Pullan, Robert Scandrett, Randall Behr, Karsten Huschke, Roger Epple, Jens Troester, Jörg Pitschmann, Boris Anifantakis, Bryan Balkwill, Patrick Shelley, Frank Zacher, Manfred Hänsel, James Caraher, Hanspeter Gmür, Bodo Reinke, Florian Frannek, Frank Hube, Jobst Liebrecht, Wolfgang Gayler, Lawrence Rapchek, Eckehard Stier, Christian Fröhlich, Christian van den Berg-Bremer; and with the stage directors: Fred Berndt, Annegret Ritzel, Uwe Scholz, Cesare Lievi, Pet Halman, Linda Brovsky, Dejan Miladinovic, Werner Saladin, Brian Deedrick, John Norris, Axel Köhler, Christian Marten-Molnàr, Urs Bircher, Barbara Ellenberger, Ralf-Peter Schulze, Christian von Götz, Jürgen Pöckel, David Geary, Michael Beauchamp, Peter Pawlik, Markus Schuliers, Bernd Krieger, Matthia Hüstebeck, Carl Radner, Klaus Arauner, Cornelia Heger.
"Gary Jankowski's burnished, beautiful bass makes you lean forward in anticipation of Sarastro's arias" wrote the Seattle Times. His "Colline [was] well drawn and beautifully sung" (Chicago Sun-Times). His Osmin in Abduction from the Seraglio was "brilliantly sung ... and his vocal prowess first-rate" (Herald Telephone). Of his performance in The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, the German arts magazine Indiz wrote, "Facial expression, gestures, and physical presence make Jankowski's portrayal extraordinary." His career reflects the depth and range of his talent. Both the opulence of his vocal resources and his critically acclaimed acting make him a favorite with audiences.
As a concert singer, Gary Jankowski has appeared with, among others, the Chautauqua, Cedar Rapids and Northwest Indiana symphony orchestras, Orchestra Seattle, the Seattle Chamber Singers, the Crue Consort, the Pacific Northwest Chamber Chorus, the New Whatcom Choral Society and the Louisville Chorus. He also has a passionate interest in early music. Of particular note was a program of Baroque solo cantatas with organ under the sponsorship of the German Consulate San Francisco in 2002. Among the highpoints of his activity as a recitalist was his collaboration with pianist Gabriel Dobner in Schubert's Die Winterreise presented at numerous venues in the USA und Europe. Other interests include cinema, reading and travel. |
