Vasyl Slipak
Vasyl Yaroslavovych Slipak (Template:Lang-uk, 1974 – 29 June 2016) was an Ukrainian baritone opera singer. From 1994 he frequently performed in France at such venues as Paris Opera and Opéra de la Bastille.[1] For his opera performance, Slipak received several awards, including "Best Male Performance" for the Toreador Song.[1]
Opera career
Born in 1974 in Lviv, Slipak liked to sing since his childhood.[1] At the age of 11, Slipak joined the Lviv children's choir group Dudarik. After that, he continued his education at the Lviv Conservatory. During his education, Slipak participated in a vocal contest in the French city of Clermont, winning the contest. In 1996, Slipak received an invitation to perform at Opéra de la Bastille in Paris. In 1997 Slipak graduated from the Lysenko Music Academy in Lviv and then was invited to the Paris Opera where he became an opera singer.[2]
Death
Following the outbreak of the pro-Russian insurgency in Donbass, Slipak returned to Ukraine and participated in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.[1] In 2015, Slipak joined the fights against pro-Russian insurgents as a member of the 7th Battalion of the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps of the Right Sector He took the military call sign Mif, a reference to his favorite aria of Mephistopheles from the opera Faust.[1] After the war in Donbass, Slipak planned to continue his career in Paris.
On 29 June 2016, at approximately 6 a.m. Slipak was killed by a sniper shot near Luhansk.[1]