Taras Shtonda graduated from the Kyiv Conservatoire, where he studied with Galina Sukhorukova, in 1993. He was a laureate in many prestigious international vocal competitions such as J. Gayarre Contest (Pamplona, Spain), 3rd prize in 1996; Francisco Vinas Contest (Barcelona), 2nd prize in 1997; Maria Callas Grand Prix (Athens), 1st prize in 1997; Buhl-Buhl Competition (Baku, Azerbaijan), 2nd prize in 2000; Sviridov Competition (Kursk, Russia), 1st prize in 2001, and others.

Since 1992 Taras Shtonda sings at the National Opera of Ukraine. At this celebrated theatre he has performed many principal bass roles amongst which Ramphis and il Re (Aida), Grande Inquisitore and Filippe II (Don Carlos), Zaccaria (Nabucco), Don Basilio (Barbiere di Siviglia), Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Kochubey (Mazeppa), King Rene (Iolanta), Prince Galitsky (Prince Igor), Boris Godunov and Pimen (Boris Godunov), and Mephistopheles (Faust).

Since 2002 he is also a soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow where he appears as Dossifey from Mussorgsky’s Khovanschina, Ruslan from Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, Kochubey from Mazeppa by Tchaikovsky, Priest from Katerina Izmailova by Shostakovich, King Rene from Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and in other roles. Recently he participated in the recording project of the Bolshoy Theatre Russian Music Masterpieces singing an air from Rahmaninov’s Aleko.

Besides being in high demand throughout Ukraine, the singer tours to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, South Korea, Poland, Brazil with performances of opera, oratorical and concert repertoire.

Amongst his most important opera roles were Zaccaria in Avignon in March 2000, Grande Inquisitore in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in April 1997, Prince Galitsky in Winterthur, Switzerland in February 1998, the same role in Vigo and La Coruna, Spain in November 2000, Dossifey in Warsaw in December 2002 and Raimondo from Lucia di Lammermoor in Mariinsky Theatre in Saint-Petersburg in February 2003.

Taras Shtonda often sings in the oratorical works such as in Verdi’s Requiem in Madrid and Barcelona (March 1997), Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Rotterdam (January 2000). He performed in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Strasbourg (February 1999), in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (September 1999); in Symphony No 13 by Shostakovich in Warsaw with the Polish National Orchestra conducted by Antonio Witt (January 2003), under Vladimir Fedoseyev in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire in November 2001 and in Germany in November 2005 with the Bonn Beethoven Orchestra at the Bonn Beethovenhalle and in Koblenz; also Shostakovich’s Symphony No 14 in Kyiv (October 2002). Within the All Symphonies by Shostakovich project with Bonn Beethoven Orchestra Taras Shtonda has recorded Symphony No 13 (December 2005) and Symphony No 14 (February 2006), both conducted by Roman Kofman.

He also performed Mussorgsky’s cycle Without sun at the “Prague Autumn” Festival in September 2003 and appeared in the Gala Concert of the Kyiv Festival 2005 under Paolo Olmi at the National Opera of Ukraine in April 2005.

(2006)