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Athlone Artists Presents – Swimming in Different Pools: A Conversation with Marc Molomot

“Marc Molomot is a hugely charismatic Arthur. A superb actor…capable of winning our affections with a depth of expression once he begins to sing.” The Los Angeles Times on Purcell’s King Arthur

Athlone Artists is pleased to announce the addition of tenor Marc Molomot to our roster, where we will be representing his ever-expanding catalogue of engagements on the opera stage. Possessed of a rare high-tenor voice and a winning stage persona that comfortably embraces both comedic and dramatic roles, Molomot’s international career has taken him to the stages of the Opéra Toulon, Opéra de Lyon, and the Opéra Comique in Paris, the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Israel Camerata Jerusalem, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Houston Symphony, Opera San José, Florentine Opera, and many more. 

In the 2024-25 season Molomot will bring his “fine, style-appropriate voice” (WQXR) to the title role of Rameau’s Pygmalion with Kentucky Opera, a role he last performed with On Site Opera; and Davus in Keiser’s Octavia with the Boston Early Music Festival. 

Marc discovered his love of music at an early age, inspired by Rabbi Zimet and his wife Lilli at Temple Beth-El in Poughkeepsie, NY. Both survivors of Auschwitz, Rabbi and Lilli Zimet brought to their Jewish community a love of music and learning. “Lilli was an absolute perfectionist,” Marc remembers. “There was no sheet music – we learned everything by rote in two-part harmony. She instilled my love of music and those beautiful melodies that run really deep within.” 

Marc began studying voice at the age of sixteen with Theodora Andreas, who provided the basis for his technique, and introduced him to the music of one of his musical heroes – Nicolai Gedda. Marc marveled at Gedda’s ability to adapt to many styles and languages, and “being truthful to text and meaning,” within the music. Feeling the need to learn more, Marc went on to study voice at the Eastman School of Music, with an emphasis on art song and vocal chamber music. 

“It was in those years that I really worked on my storytelling and being truthful,” he says.  He worked with visiting professor Janet Bookspan, whom he credits as one of the most valuable mentors of his career. “[Bookspan] taught me to ask, ‘Why am I saying what I am saying the way I’m saying it at this moment?’ No matter what I was singing – be it oratorio, opera, or art song – this became my process. 

Marc thinks back on how valuable it was to delve into the truth of character in his twenties. “It was obvious that I was always going to play many kinds of characters as a character tenor,” he says. “But I’ve always approached truth in my roles – I take them very seriously – I always believe that my character is in the right, no matter what kind of character I play.” 

Marc was accepted into the Merola program at the San Francisco Opera, where he made the natural progression into the position of house character tenor on the mainstage. But after a while, he was ready to take on new challenges. He consulted Bookspan, who advised, “Don’t stew – Do!” She suggested he apply for an available fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival. He had never sung Bach before, but decided to give it a go. It ended up being one of the pivotal moments in his career. Marc says, “I caught the bug for early music!”

He sought out a teacher to help with this new chapter, finding tenor Howard Crook who was working with Boston Early Music at the time. “I absorbed so much from him,” says Marc, who discovered with Crook the works of Lully, Rameau, Purcell, and Charpentier. Crook encouraged him to move to France to work with William Christie’s Baroque musical ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Marc had always wanted to live abroad, and relished the chance to work with such great instrumentalists and singers. “I wanted to be a sponge,” he says. “And I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be learning all of this.” 

“To really learn another language, to taste it, it was so important to me,” says Marc. He explains that comedy in France is very well drawn, and credits stage director and dramaturge Caroline Gautier for assisting him in learning this “clean, crisp approach to comedy… Every movement for creating the text is well thought out and becomes organic.” He also has learned a most important lesson when creating a comic character: “I have to crack myself up at least once, and then I know it will read in the house!”

In France, he also got to dip his toes into the water of contemporary music, creating the role of Le Cochon in Jean-Marc Singier’s acclaimed Chat perché, which he performed at Paris’ Amphithéâtre Bastille and on a multi-city tour of France. 

Marc finally decided after ten years in France it was time to move back to the States, where he began to find even more opportunities to expand his repertoire. To his surprise and delight, it was suggested that Marc take on roles in Wagner and Strauss operas. Since the Wagnerian character repertoire was so new to him, he went to Berlin to study and perform Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the Dramatic Voices Program. In the contemporary arena, he has created characters such as Leonard Lev in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’sAwakenings with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and Francis O’Rourke in Martin Rokeach’s oratorio Bodies on the Line with the Oakland Symphony. He can be heard in the role of Der Hauptmann in the live recording of Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony, which won both a GRAMMY® Award and an ECHO Klassik Award for Best Opera Recording. All the while, Marc continues to keep his voice flexible with his robust performance schedule in Baroque concert and opera repertoire. 

Whether he is singing Romantic, Contemporary, or Baroque repertoire, he says “It’s so similar. I’m still painting, but I’m just using a different brush.”

In his home in the hamlet of Kerhonkson, New York, Marc rediscovered his love of art song, which had been his foundation at the beginning of his musical path. During the pandemic, he and pianist Alex Ruvenstein would get together, masked up, and make music together. He returned to Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin, and decided he was finally ready to take on the emotionally challenging Winterreise. And when the world once again opened its doors, the two found a few chamber series where they could share their music with the community. He admits, “I’m not sure that I would’ve dived back into art song in the way that I did without the pandemic, but those weekly meetings with my pianist Alex saved both of us. Artists connecting with other artists, finding a way to be creative. And art song helps everything that I do, keeping the spectrum of colors alive and vibrant.” 

In his Kerhonkson home, Marc feels that vibrancy all around him. He and his husband Edward love the area, as it provides much needed access to nature. Marc says that, in addition to making music, he feels “a spiritual and deep need to saunter in the woods.” One can also find him regularly at Lake Minnewaska State Park, where he finds his “zen” long-distance swimming in summer. “It is my number one happy place in the whole world, it is my time to memorize music, to twist and turn my body, and to feel at peace.”

Marc – who in addition to his busy singing career serves as an adjunct professor at SUNY New Paltz – considers himself “blessed to have had such inspiring teachers” and wants to share what he has learned with the next generation. Throughout his career, he has hearkened back to the idea of “Tov l’hodot” that he learned at Temple Beth-El. “It’s the basis of gratitude,” he explains. “I carry that with me. I feel grateful when I get to do something new. I like to keep surprising people, and I’m going to keep surprising my audiences. I love swimming in different pools of water.” 

Marc is especially excited to start this new journey with Miguel Rodriguez and Athlone Artists, who will be exclusively representing him for opera. “I think he and I are cut from a similar cloth – he is also a tenor, and he has an enthusiasm for life and loves people and is grateful and believes in connections and community and uplifting people, and that’s always been a part of me. New doors and new genres are opening, and I’m excited to see where we go together!”