Jakub Kettner studied at the Conservatory in Pardubice, then at the Academy of Performing Arts (HAMU) in Prague in 1993–1999 under Prof. René Tuček and also with Viera Schausch in Ostrava. In 1997, he received a scholarship from the University of Applied Arts in Graz, Austria, where he studied with the soloist of the Vienna State Opera, Gottfried Hornik. In 1996–2001 Kettner had an engagement at the F.X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, and then left for the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc where he was performing until 2012. In the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Otrava, where he has been active since June 2012, Jakub Kettner has sung an array of roles – Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen, Přemysl in Janáček’s Šárka, Thésea in Martinů’s Ariadne, Albert in Massenet’s Werther, De Siriex in Giordano’s Fedora, Vincenzo Gellner in Catalani’s La Wally and the main role in Verdi’s Nabucco to name a few. Recently he has appeared as Guglielmo Cecil in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda as well as Carlo Gérard in Giordano’s Andre Chénier.
In the current season you can see him in the operas The Bartered Bride, The Secret, and The Barber of Seville, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk, La Traviata, and The Fate. In 2003–2015 he performed at the National Theatre in Prague and Brno, as well as in other Czech opera houses and at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava. Kettner played Ludovic in the opera The Beauty and the Beast by Philip Glass, Bohuš in Dvořák’s The Jacobin and Forester and Harašta the Poacher, in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. In Tchaikovsky’s operas he had the role of Count Tomsky in The Queen of Spades, and the title role of Eugene Onegin, Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Enrico in Donizetti’s opera Lucy from Lammermoor and Belcore in The Elixir of Love by the same composer. In Mozart’s operas he played Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro and Guglielmo in Così Fan Tutte. Jakub Kettner has also performed in Verdi’s operas where he sang Amonasro in Aida, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Monforte in The Sicilian Vespers, Iago in Othello, Ezia in Attila, and in the title roles of Nabucco and Simon Boccanegra. In Puccini’s operas he introduced himself as Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, Scarpio in Tosca, Marcello in La Bohème, and Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, whereas in Wagner’s opera he performed in Lohengrin in the role of Teleramund and also as the Flying Dutchman. In 2009, Kettner was in the short list for the Czech Thalia Prize for his role of Sancho Panza (in Massenet’s Don Quichotte) in the production of the Prague State Opera, then was awarded the Libuška Award for his extraordinary performance as Escamillo in Bizet’s opera Carmen in the Moravian Theatre Olomouc. He also regularly performs abroad (Japan, Turkey, Malta, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland). In 2015, he sang the part of Harašta in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Italy.
In the current season you can see him in the operas The Bartered Bride, The Secret, and The Barber of Seville, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk, La Traviata, and The Fate. In 2003–2015 he performed at the National Theatre in Prague and Brno, as well as in other Czech opera houses and at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava. Kettner played Ludovic in the opera The Beauty and the Beast by Philip Glass, Bohuš in Dvořák’s The Jacobin and Forester and Harašta the Poacher, in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. In Tchaikovsky’s operas he had the role of Count Tomsky in The Queen of Spades, and the title role of Eugene Onegin, Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Enrico in Donizetti’s opera Lucy from Lammermoor and Belcore in The Elixir of Love by the same composer. In Mozart’s operas he played Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro and Guglielmo in Così Fan Tutte. Jakub Kettner has also performed in Verdi’s operas where he sang Amonasro in Aida, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Monforte in The Sicilian Vespers, Iago in Othello, Ezia in Attila, and in the title roles of Nabucco and Simon Boccanegra. In Puccini’s operas he introduced himself as Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, Scarpio in Tosca, Marcello in La Bohème, and Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, whereas in Wagner’s opera he performed in Lohengrin in the role of Teleramund and also as the Flying Dutchman. In 2009, Kettner was in the short list for the Czech Thalia Prize for his role of Sancho Panza (in Massenet’s Don Quichotte) in the production of the Prague State Opera, then was awarded the Libuška Award for his extraordinary performance as Escamillo in Bizet’s opera Carmen in the Moravian Theatre Olomouc. He also regularly performs abroad (Japan, Turkey, Malta, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland). In 2015, he sang the part of Harašta in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Italy.