Jiří Rajniš (1991) has just been accepted into the Junge Ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden for 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, where he will appear as Schaunard in La Bohème, Morales in Carmen, Fiorello in Barber of Seville, 1. Priester in Magic Flute and Trojanischer Soldat/ Griechischer Führer in Les Troyens. 
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The only 26-year-old baritone is an extraordinary singing talent from the Czech Republic. After graduating from the Prague Conservatory and subsequently the prestigious UCLA in Los Angeles, Jiri gave his debut in 2013 as Don Giovanni at Sommeroper Bamberg and joined the ensemble of Landestheater Coburg in 2013/2014; he’s therefore not only the youngest Czech opera singer abroad to incorporate the role of Don Giovanni, but also the youngest Czech baritone in a foreign Festengagement. Some of his major roles in Coburg include Herr Fluth in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Schaunard in La Bohème, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, and Tod in Savitri, to name a few. 
In 2016/2017, Jiri made his debut at the Prague National Theater as Mule Owner (Die Kluge, Carl Orff), and at the Pilsen Theater as Eugen Onegin. 
After Luigi Bassi, who had incorporated Don Giovanni at the opera’s premiere in 1787, Jiri was the youngest interpreter of this role to appear on the stage of the Estates Theatre in Prague in July 2016.

Season 2017/2018
RigolettoitMarullo Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden Semperoper
Les troyens/Premier soldat troyen Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden Semperoper 
CarmenfrMoralès Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden Semperoper
Yevgeny OneginEugene Onegin J K Tyl Theatre, Plzeň 
Orleanskaya Deva [P]Dunois Divadlo F X Šaldy Liberec 
Il barbiere di SivigliaitFiorello Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden Semperoper
Die Zauberflötede1. Priester Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden Semperoper