Yuri Kissin was born in Perm (Russia). After starting his career in Israel, he moved to France and spent a couple of years at the Paris Opera Studio (formerly named Centre de Formation Lyrique). He was then invited back to take part in many productions both on the stages of the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Garnier: War and Peace, Tosca, Parsifal, « K » by Philippe Manoury, Don Carlos, Boris Godounov, Evgeny Onegin, La Traviata, Capriccio, Ariadne auf Naxos, Lulu, Dialogues des Carmélites, Madame Butterfly, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Salomé, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ariane et Barbe Bleue, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Billy Budd, Francesca da Rimini, Gianni Schicchi, La Cerisaie and Khovantschina.

 

In the past seasons, he made his debut at the Sydney Opera (Leporello from Don Giovanni in 2023) and sang at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Montpellier, Toulouse, Rennes, Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, Toulon, Dijon, Bordeaux, Limoges, Nancy, Nantes, Metz, Nice, and abroad in Madrid, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Moscow, Perm, Amsterdam, Maribor, Monte-Carlo as well as at the Royal Opera House in Denmark and in Sweden. He sang in the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Lacoste, Antibes, Chartres, Sédières... He also sang with most of the prominent Parisian Orchestras. 

 

His repertoire includes such roles as Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Leporello and Masetto (Don Giovanni), Don Alfonso (Cosí fan tutte), Basilio and Bartolo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Haly (L’Italiana in Algeri), Don Magnifico and Alidoro (La Cenerentola), Frère Laurent (Roméo et Juliette), Colline (La Bohème)… as well as many comprimari.

 

He sang Bartolo from Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Toulouse) and from Le Nozze di Figaro (Avignon, Tel-Aviv), Zaretsky from Evgeny Onegin (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Toulouse), Johann from Werther (Bordeaux, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées), Haly from L'Italiana in Algeri, Hermann and Luther from Les Contes d'Hoffmann then Ferrando from Il Trovatore (Tel-Aviv), Monterone from Rigoletto (Jerusalem), Hermann and Schlémil from Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Monte-Carlo), Colline from La Bohème (Massy), Escamillo from Carmen (Haifa), Der Sprecher from Die Zauberflöte and Raimondo from Lucia di Lammermoor (Williamsburg), Truffaldino from Ariadne auf Naxos (Toulouse, Tel-Aviv), Varlaam from Boris Godunov (Toulouse, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), Grenvil / Il Barone Douphol from La Traviata (Marseille / Montpellier), Sciarrone from Tosca (Dijon), le Second Commissaire / l'Officier from Dialogues des Carmélites (Théâtre des Champs Elysées), Benoît / Alcindoro from La Bohème (Avignon), Quinault from Adrianna Lecouvreur (Toulouse). In the concert field, he sang Albert from Les Folies Amoureuses by Castil-Blaze in Avignon and Leporello from Don Giovanni with the Sinfonietta Beer-Sheva.​ A regular guest at the Israeli Opera in Tel-Aviv, he takes part in such productions as Iolanta (Bertrand), The Dybbuk by Yosef Bardanashvili (cover as Sender), Salome (Erste Nazarener) and Tosca (Il Sagrestano). He sings Der Tod and Der Lautsprecher in Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the Ensemble Meitar and Don Pasquale with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

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During season 2026-2027, he sings Hobson from Peter Grimes in Toulouse and Antonio from Le Nozze di Figaro in Montpellier. In Tel-Aviv, he sings Sam from Un Ballo In Maschera, Effendi and The British Major in Outcast by Yonatan Cnaan and Zuniga from Carmen. In the concert field he sings the bass soloist in Shostakovich 14th Symphony at the Sine Nomine Festival in Lausanne.