Latvian born Pauls Putnins was a member of Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir. After studying conducting in Riga and Jerusalem, he subsequently studied singing at the Trinity College of Music, London. Appearances in operas include La Bohème for ENO (DVD from Warner Classics) and Opéra de Nancy, Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Colorado, Denver and the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, Carmen for New Zealand Opera, Don Giovanni for Latvian National Opera, Boulevard Solitude for Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa and for Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (DVD from EuroArts), The Rape of Lucretia in St Petersburg and Riga, Tannhäuser for the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Moscow Philharmonic.

Opera engagements in the UK have included Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Peter Grimes, Idomeneo, Pelléas et Mélisande, Otello, Die Zauberflöte and Flight for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Fidelio for Garsington Opera, Madama Butterfly and Aida for Raymond Gubbay at the Royal Albert Hall, Flavio for the Early Opera Company, Ariadne (prologue) and La Traviata for the Birmingham Opera Company.

Pauls Putnins’ concert engagements include Beethoven 9th Symphony with Philharmonia, RPO, Bucharest and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras, Verdi Requiem with RPO, Cimarosa Il Maestro di Cappella with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Gounod Mors et Vita for Latvian National Opera, Charpentier Te Deum with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the world premiere of Brian Elias’ Talisman with the National Youth Orchestra at the Cheltenham International Music Festival.

Pauls Putnins regularly appears in Latvia and the Baltic States as an oratorio soloist in works including Bach B Minor mass, St. Mathew and St. John Passions, Handel Messiah with Latvian Radio Choir, Latvian state choir ‘Latvia’ and Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir. He recorded the premiere recordings of Gloucester in Meyerbeer’s Margherita d’Anjou and Ferrondo in Mercadante’s Maria Stuarda for Opera Rara and Walford Davies ‘Everyman’ for Dutton.

Recent and future engagements include Petite Messe Solennelle on tour in Germany, France and at the Bregenz Festival, Angelotti/Tosca for ENO, Puccini’s Edgar for New Sussex Opera, the title role in excerpts of Eugene Onegin at the Barbican and Die Schöpfung in Kanazawa, Japan.

Pauls Putnins has changed fach and is now singing as a full baritone. In 2015 he sang the Count for Latvian National Opera and concert performances of Marcello/La Bohème which he repeated last year. 2016 also saw him singing Escamillo/Carmen for Blackheath Opera, roles at Dorset Opera and the Count at Scottish Opera. This year he sings Figaro/Le Nozze di Figaro at the Teatru Manoel in Malta to where he will return next year for Leporello/Don Giovanni and again in 2019 for Don Alfonso/Così fan Tutte.