Spanish-Ukrainian tenor Wolodymyr Smishkewych is a native of New Jersey, USA. He has specialized in medieval song, chant, and new music since the 1990s. He received his training in voice performance from Rutgers University (BM ‘95, MM ‘98) and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music (DM ‘13), having studied with renowned tenors Frederick Urrey, Paul Elliott and Alan Bennett. A sought-after performer and vocal pedagogue in medieval, contemporary, and world music, he has lectured and taught masterclasses and performance programs at universities in the United States, South America, Canada, and Europe. In 2011, he joined the faculty of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, Ireland, where he was director of the MA in Ritual Song and Chant until 2014.
He is a member of Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music and of Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices, and has performed with The Harp Consort and Ars Nova Copenhagen. His opera appearances in the USA and Europe have been under the baton of directors such as Peter Sellars, Gary Wedow, Benton Hess, and James Middleton. He has performed at major festivals including BBC Proms, Tanglewood, Regensberg Tage Alter Musik, Festival Cervantino, Edinburgh Festival, and the early music festivals of Boston, Barcelona, Utrecht, and Berkeley. He has recorded for Sony/BMG, Harmonia Mundi USA, ExCathedra, and IU Music-Focus records, and written for publications by Cambridge University Press and Taunton Press.
Upcoming performances include performances of Frankish Phantoms with Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music at the 2015 Boston Early Music Festival, and Händel’s Messiah in Lausanne, Switzerland with Resurgam and the Irish Baroque Orchestra in November 2015. Wolodymyr Smishkewych gratefully acknowledges funding support from the Music Network Music Capital Scheme, funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Arts Council Ireland).