KARTAL KARAGEDIK is one of the most distinguished baritones of his generation. With his strong, virile voice, exuberant stage presence, he captivates audiences both on the opera stage and  in concerts. Known for his artistic versatility, he has portrayed over 40 leading roles, including Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Il Conte Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donizetti’s Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Verdi’s Renato and Rodrigo (Un ballo in maschera, Don Carlo), Puccini’s Lescaut and Marcello (Manon Lescaut, La Bohème), the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin…

In the 2024-25 season, Kartal Karagedik’s engagements include performing as Orest in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride at Opera Vlaanderen and Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at TivoliVredenburg. Additional highlights include Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Les Musiciens du Prince at Opéra de Monte-Carlo and performances as Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Peter in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and Il Conte Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at Staatsoper Hamburg. Further engagements of this season include the role of Donner in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Zurga in Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles at the Internationale Maifestspiele at Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Following his debut album release “PROMETHEUS”, he will perform a Schubert recital with pianist Helmut Deutsch at the TauberPhilharmonie Weikersheim.

In recent seasons, Kartal Karagedik has performed as Zurga in Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles at Opera Vlaanderen, Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Hamburg State Opera, and reprised his signature role as Verdi’s Marquis de Posa in the five-act French version of Don Carlos. He has also appeared as Frère Léon in Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise at both the Elbphilharmonie and Grand Théâtre de Genève, and performed the title role in Donizetti’s rarely staged Le Duc d’Albe at Vlaamse Opera. Additionally, he starred in the world premiere of Christian Jost’s Voyage vers l’espoir in Geneva, and portrayed Marcello in La Bohème at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. Other key roles include Don Giovanni at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Germont in La Traviata at Theater St. Gallen, Paolo in Simon Boccanegra at Opéra de Normandie, and Rodrigo in Don Carlo at Oper Leipzig.

On the concert stage, he has performed Mahler’s 8th Symphony under the baton of Eliahu Inbal at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Kindertotenlieder at the Mahler Festwochen in Toblach, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Istanbul, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Brucknerhaus Linz.  Other concert engagements brought him to Mozartsaal in Vienna, Hercules Saal in Munich, Tokyo Metropolitan Hall, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, and Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival. 

Kartal has collaborated with esteemed conductors, including Joana Mallwitz, Kent Nagano, Stefano Ranzani, Ottavio Dantone, Eliahu Inbal, Gianluca Capuano, Giampaolo Bisanti, Ulf Schirmer, Antonello Allemandi, Paolo Arrivabeni, Marie Jacquot, and many more.

Since the 2015/16 season, he has been a resident artist at the Hamburg State Opera. Prior to that, he was a member of the ensemble at the Theater Magdeburg from 2009 and at the Theater Erfurt from 2013. Kartal made early career appearances at notable venues such as Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Riccardo in I Puritani), Staatstheater Braunschweig (Gerard in Andréa Chenier), and Teatro Sociale di Como (as Falstaff). Karagedik was born in Izmir, Turkey, and completed his vocal studies in his hometown and at the Accademia Dell’Opera Italiana in Bologna.

In addition to his singing career, Kartal is also a celebrated and award-winning photographer. Since 2014, his photography exhibitions have received widespread public recognition.