Nikola Mijailović (baritone)
Nikola Mijailovic (born 1973) is a Serbian baritone who has a prolific international opera and concert career since the mid-1990s. He is particularly admired for his portrayals in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. He sang on several complete opera recordings on a variety of music labels. Born in Belgrade, Mijailovic began his voice studies with his mother Radmila Smiljanić-a voice teacher on the faculty at the University of Arts in Belgrade. After earning degrees from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (1993) and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (1996), Mijailovic entered the  Center de Formation Lyrique at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. While a student, he won several important international singing competitions, including first prize at the Mario Lanza (1994), Luciano Pavarotti (1995), and Leyla Gencer (1997) Voice Competitions. In the years 1995 and 1996 he had attended the summer conservatory program of the Music Academy of the West. He made his professional opera debut in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre as Schaunard in "La bohème". That same year he sang the role of Marcello in "La bohème" at the Opera Company of Philadelphia opposite Pavarotti as Rodolfo. Mijailovic's career quickly  took off, and by 2000 he had already sung leading parts at La Scala, La Fenice, the Kirov Opera, the Festival della Valle d'Itria, the Festival de Ópera de Las Palmas, the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, the Festival Settimane Musicali di Stresa, the Prolirica in Lima, and the National Theatre in Belgrade among others. He has continued to sing roles at major opera houses internationally, in such parts as Alphonse XI in "La favorite", the Count di Luna in "Il trovatore", Don Carlo di Vargas in "La forza del destino", Erensto in "Il pirata", Escamillo in "Carmen", Ford  in "Falstaff", Germont in "La traviata", Leandro in "The Love for Three Oranges", Orest in "Elektra", Rodrigue in "Don Carlos", and the title roles in "Eugene Onegin" and "Macbeth" among others.