Krešimir Stražanac
Bass-baritone Krešimir Stražanac is one of the most sought-after Croatian singers on the international stage. After studying in Stuttgart with Dunja Vejzović and Cornelis Witthoefft, he joined the ensemble of the Zurich Opera, where he remained a principal soloist for seven seasons.
He is a prizewinner of several international competitions, including Cantilena in Bayreuth (Opera and Operetta Category), La Voce of Bavarian Radio, and the Hugo Wolf International Competition in Slovenj Gradec, the birthplace of Hugo Wolf.
Stražanac has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, as well as renowned period-instrument ensembles such as Collegium Vocale Gent, Collegium 1704, and Concentus Musicus Wien. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Giovanni Antonini, Herbert Blomstedt, Iván Fischer, Bernard Haitink, Philippe Herreweghe, Václav Luks, Masaaki Suzuki, and Franz Welser-Möst.
In 2023, Stražanac made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko, appearing in concerts in Berlin, Madrid, and Barcelona. The performance of the Berlin Philharmonic’s annual European Concert from the Basilica of the Sagrada Família was broadcast worldwide.
On the operatic stage, he has appeared at the Bavarian State Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Theater an der Wien, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. He is also a regular guest at major international festivals, including the Salzburg Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Bachfest Leipzig, and the Bach Festival Montréal, while maintaining an active recital career throughout Europe, Japan, and Brazil.
His performances have been documented on more than twenty commercial recordings.
In 2026, he appeared in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under its Chief Conductor Klaus Mäkelä. In the forthcoming season, he will perform the title role in Antonio Salieri’s Falstaff under the baton of René Jacobs.