Ester Pavlů

Ester Pavlů, a Czech mezzo-soprano, was born to a rock music family.
However, contrary to her parents’ expectations, Ester chose the operatic journey in music to be hers. She became a laureate of several international singing competitions, such as Antonín Dvořák Singing Competition, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, International Competition of Belcanto Vincenzo Bellini, France. Ester also received the Beno Blachut Award followed by an invitation to the Gstaad International Music Festival in Switzerland.

Born in Prague, Ester graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts (taught by Helena Kaupová) perfecting her singing skills in masterclasses led by Aprile Millo, Peter Dvorský, Eva Randová, Bojidar Nikolov, Gabriela Beňačková or José Cura; currently she is under the guidance of Slovak baritone Vlado Chmelo.

In 2017, Jose Cura “discovered” her at his masterclass course. He invited her to sing with him at his Prague concert and engaged her as Fenena in Verdi’s Nabucco performed by the National Theatre in Prague.

She debuted as Laura in C. M. Weber’s The Three Pintos in the State Opera Prague. Ester also made a convincing performance as Dona Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in Estates Theatre in Prague or Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s Rusalka in JK Tyl Theatre in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

Her remarkable concert performances include the part of Old Woman in the world premiere of Bohuslav Martinů’s What Men Live By conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek. The production of this music piece also earned a nomination for the International Opera Award in 2015. The recording of Martinů’s What Men Live By was awarded the Czech Musical Award – Anděl - for the best classical recording in January 2019. From 2013 to 2017, Ester was a long-standing soloist for the festival staging of the Mystérie de Noël at the Grand Théâtre du Puy du Fou in France. In 2017, she held a Dvořák’s Biblical Songs concert conducted by Marco Guidarini in The Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Italy.

Ester cooperated with the Czech Philharmonic, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, the Slovak Košice State Philharmonic, the FOK Prague Symphonic Orchestra, the Pilsen Philharmonic, the PKF Prague Philharmonia, the Italian Teatro Lirico di Cagliari or the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Besides the already mentioned conductors, Ester worked with Marco Comin, Peter Valentovič, Heiko Mathias Förster, Walter Attanasi or Debashish Chaudhuri.

In autumn 2019, after completing a successful tour of Great Britain with the Prague Symphony Orchestra performing Mahler's Symphony no. 3 (conducted by Pietari Inkinen), Ester went on to debut as Cinderella in Rossini's "Cenerentola" in Sofia, Bulgaria - a role she reprised to great acclaim in the autumn of 2021. In December 2021, at the invitation of the Czech Center in New York, Ester jetted off for her first American tour, comprising five concerts entitled 'From Dvořák to Martinů'. Immediately upon her return she managed to find the time to twice wow the audience as the Queen in Weinberger's opera “Schwanda the Bagpiper”.

In March 2022, after repeated pandemic-related postponements, we can at long last look forward to Ester's appearance as Carmen in Bizet's eponymous opera at the Prague National Theatre. This storied venue will also see her appear as Santuzza in Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana."