Biography

Ethiopian-American baritone, Yonathan Astatke, is a native of Kansas City, MO who is a rising young singing
actor making a name for himself one memorable performance at a time. Praised for his “strong
characterization” and “rich, clear vibrato” (The Maneater), he is quickly gaining praise as an interpreter of
operatic, musical theatre, and concert repertoire. He made his professional principal debut singing the title
role of Gianni Schicchi with Finger Lakes Opera in 2024. He is a member of the 2025 Des Moines Metro Opera
Apprentice Artist Program, covering Keeper of The Madhouse in The Rake’s Progress along with participating
in ensembles for Der fliegende Holländer, The Rake’s Progress, and The Cunning Little Vixen. He will also be
portraying the roles of Voltaire/Pangloss/Cacambo/Martin in Candide in 2025 with the Turner-Fischer Center
for Opera at LSU. Yonathan’s other principal roles include Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Ford (Falstaff),
Billy Bigelow (Carousel), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Gabriel von Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Demetrius (A
Midsummer Night’s Dream), among others.

Yonathan has experienced success at a number of voice competitions across the United States. He was the
recipient of a highly-coveted Career Development Grant from The Sullivan Foundation in 2024 at the age of
23. He is a two-time Encouragement Award winner from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2023
and 2025, respectively, winning his first award at the age of 21. Yonathan also won the Arkansas District of the
Laffont Competition in 2024, going on to take Second Place at the Midwest Region of the competition. Also in
2024, he received Second Place at the Pittsburgh Festival Opera Mildred Miller International Voice
Competition. In 2023, he took first place at the Opera Mississippi John Alexander National Voice Competition.

Yonathan has been featured in a number of various concerts with organizations across the country. He
recently made his orchestral solo debut with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra as the baritone soloist in
Mendelssohn’s Von Himmel hoch cantata along with Part I of Handel’s The Messiah. He has also appeared in
concert with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, The Castleton Festival, Baton Rouge Opera Guild, Finger Lakes Opera,
Baton Rouge Symphony, Opera Louisiane, Opera Saratoga, Landlocked Opera, and more. Yonathan is a fervent
believer in the power of music as an effective means to show our humanity. He hopes to use his abilities as a
way to empower and encourage others coming from marginalized backgrounds to find their own creative
fulfillment through musical performance as he does. He believes this work is necessary to ensure equity in
performing arts for generations to come.