The Austrian singer Günther Groissböck, who makes his LA Opera debut as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, was born in 1976 and is today one of the most interesting basses of the young generation. He completed his music studies at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna where he took part in Robert Holl's master class. Since 2005 he has worked regularly with José van Dam.

Günther Groissböck's professional career began during his studies. In 2001 he was awarded first prize in the Austrian national competition Gradus ad Parnassum, followed by his first engagement at the Kammeroper Vienna. As a fellow of the Herbert von Karajan Center, he was a member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera in the 2002/03 season, appearing as Don Fernando (Fidelio), the Second Armed Man (Die Zauberflöte) and other roles.

He first sang Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), one of the central roles of his repertoire, at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt in 2002 and since then most successfully at the Zurich Operahouse, Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Salzburg Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Festival d`Aix en Provence, Grand Theatre de Luxembourg, Teatro Regio Torino and Wiener Volksoper. In the future he will sing this role again 2009 at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, 2010 at the Vienna Staatsoper and 2012 at the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Teatro alla Scala Milan.

In 2003 Günther Groissböck joined the ensemble of the Zurich Opera for four years where, in addition to Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), he performed Don Fernando (Fidelio), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), the King (Aida), Jorg (Stiffelio), the Friar (Don Carlo), Night Watchman (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Titurel (Parsifal), Publio (La Clemenza di Tito), Zoroastro (Orlando) and Böser Geist/Mephisto/Pater Profundus (Schumann's Szenen aus Goethes Faust).

He was also guest in other roles at various opera houses and festivals, including Landgraf (Tannhäuser) and Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Fafner (Das Rheingold) at the Théâtre du Châtelet Paris and at the San Francisco Opera, Zoroastro (Orlando) and Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin) at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Colline (La Bohème) at the Washington National Opera and the Hermit (Der Freischütz) at the Salzburg Festival.

Future important debuts will include roles such as Vodnik (Rusalka) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Alidoro (La Cenerentola) at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, King Heinrich (Lohengrin) at the Houston Grand Opera, Hunding (Die Walküre) at the Opéra National de Paris (Bastille), Daland (Der Fliegende Holländer) at the Atlanta Opera and Banquo (Macbeth) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Among the several engagements of the next years he will also appear as Landgraf in 2009 at the Teatro Real Madrid, 2010 as Fafner at the Opera Bastille in Paris and as King Heinrich in 2010 at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. In the same season he will make his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera New York in the role of Colline (La Bohème) and in 2011 he will make his debut at the Bayreuth Festival.

He is also a versatile and successful concert singer performing, among others, already at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Philharmonie Berlin, at the Royal Festival Hall London, the Boston Symphony Hall and the Wiener Musikverein.

He has worked with many of the world's leading conductors, including Franz Welser-Möst, Riccardo Chailly, Donald Runnicles, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Seji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, William Christie, Philipp Jordan, Nello Santi, Christoph Eschenbach, Ivor Bolton and Marek Janowski.