Ena Pongrac

Croatian mezzo-soprano Ena Pongrac appears regularly across Europe following engagements at Theater Basel and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Varvara in Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová is a recurring role in her career, with appearances in Geneva, Lyon, Kassel and at the Bayerische Staatsoper. She returns to the role with the Munich company at the Janáček Brno Festival in November 2026.

Ms. Pongrac’s recent engagements include Fenena in Nabucco at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2026 and Phylo in Fauré’s Pénélope at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2025. In the 2024/25 season she appeared at Opernhaus Zürich as Giovanna in Rigoletto, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor and the Page in Salome. Further performances as the Page of Herodias are announced for Zagreb and Teatro Regio di Torino in 2027.

From 2022 to 2024, Ms. Pongrac worked at the Grand Théâtre de Genève as a member of its ensemble. Her roles included Thibault in Don Carlos, the Page in Roberto Devereux, Fenena, Varvara and Anna Kennedy in Maria Stuarda. She returned to Geneva in Salome in 2025. From 2020 to 2022 she was an ensemble member at Theater Basel, singing the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Zita in Gianni Schicchi and Flora Bervoix in La traviata, and appearing in Intermezzo. This followed two years in Basel’s OperAvenir and OperAvenirPLUS studios, with repertoire including Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, the Drummer in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, and Kate Pinkerton and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly.

Earlier engagements include Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel at Junge Oper Schloss Weikersheim in 2017, and Mercédès in Carmen and Zerlina in Don Giovanni at Jyväskylän Ooppera. Her twentieth-century and 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 with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia, featuring Ms. Pongrac, was released by Alba Records.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, followed by master’s degrees in opera and in Lied, oratorio and concert at the Berlin University of the Arts. She furthered her training in masterclasses with Christa Ludwig, Gundula Janowitz, Brigitte Fassbaender, Anne Sofie von Otter, Margreet Honig and Dunja Vejzović.