Ena Pongrac

Ensemble: (Current) Grand Théâtre de Genève, (Former) Theater Basel

Freelancer: Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Lyon, Janáček Brno Festival, Jyväskylän Ooppera

The Croatian mezzo-soprano Ena Pongrac received her formal training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and the Berlin University of the Arts, where she completed both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in opera performance. She furthered her development in masterclasses with Christa Ludwig, Gundula Janowitz, Brigitte Fassbaender, Anne Sofie von Otter, Margreet Honig, and Dunja Vejzovic.

Since the 2022/23 season, Ms. Pongrac has been a member of the ensemble at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Her recent roles there include Thibault (Don Carlos), a Page (Roberto Devereux), Fenena (Nabucco), Varvara (Katja Kabanova), and Anna Kennedy (Maria Stuarda). She also made her role debut as Varvara at the Opéra National de Lyon and at the Janáček Brno Festival. In 2025, she is scheduled to appear at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Phylo in Penelope.

From 2020 to 2022, Ms. Pongrac was a permanent ensemble member at Theater Basel. Her roles there included the Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Flora Bervoix (La Traviata), and appearances in Intermezzo. Between 2018 and 2020, she was engaged at Theater Basel as a member of the OperAvenir and OperAvenirPLUS studios, where her repertoire included Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), the Drummer (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Kate Pinkerton and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), and Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor), as well as roles in Schellen-Ursli, Andersens Erzählungen, and Hasse’s Didone abbandonata.

Earlier engagements include Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel at the Young Opera Schloss Weikersheim (2017), Mercédès in Carmen (2017), and Zerlina in Don Giovanni (2016) at Jyväskylän Ooppera in Finland. Her contemporary repertoire includes the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Madame Lapérouse in Reimann’s Melusine, and Lana in Arash Safaian’s Exit Paradise. A live recording of Pekka Kostiainen’s Requiem, performed with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia and featuring Ms. Pongrac, is available from Alba Records.