The baritone Ejnar Čolak, born 1997 in Zenica, Bosnia, has been studying Voice at the University for Performing Arts Vienna in the class of Laura Aikin since 2019. In spring 2024, he completed his Bachelor studies with honor and began his Master's Program in Vocal Performance in
October of the same year, continuing under the guidance of Aikin. He is also a member of the Lied class led by Florian Boesch and the opera class taught by Christoph Ulrich Meier and Roland Schwab. Before his studies in Vienna, Čolak completed his first Bachelor's degree in Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at the Music Academy in Sarajevo, studying with Adema Pljevljak-Krehić. During that time, he also participated in an Erasmus exchange to Vigo, Spain, where he spent two semesters in the class of Teresa Novoa.
Čolak has already appeared in leading roles in several major opera productions and concerts in recent years. In July 2024, he made his role debut as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the inaugural edition of the Wiener Opernsommer, an open-air production in front of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. The production featured the Wiener Kammerorchester under the baton of Joji Hattori and was directed by Dominik Am Zehnhoff-Söns.
He was re-invited to the Wiener Opernsommer 2025, performing the role of Barone Douphol in Verdi’s La Traviata with the same artistic leading team.
In October 2024, Čolak debuted as Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia under the musical direction of Klaus Simon and staging by Joachim Rathke.
That same year, he sang the role of the Father in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at the Congress Center Villach and Konzerthaus Klagenfurt in a fully staged production, directed by Dominik Am Zehnhoff-Söns.
In spring 2025, he began a tour with the creation "Opera Re-told", written and helmed by actor Frederick Böhle, appearing in the role of Guglielmo in a shortened version of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, accompanied by the Tonkünstler Orchestra NÖ under the baton of Jakob Lehmann. Performances have already taken place at Congress Center Baden, Stadttheater Wiener Neustadt and Festspielhaus St. Pölten. The tour will continue in April 2026 at the Brucknerhaus Linz and Auditorium Grafenegg.
Čolak will make his full role debut as Guglielmo in March 2026 in the university’s main stage production at Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, in a staging by Roland Schwab and the musical direction of Christoph Meier.
In October 2025, he furthermore will take on the title role of Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in Augsburg, conducted by of Justin Pambianchi.
The Bosnian baritone is also highly active in concert repertoire. A particular highlight is his debut at Konzerthaus Freiburg as part of the concert tour "Dixit", commemorating the Srebrenica massacre. Under the baton of Bernhard Schmidt, the program featured Händel’s Dixit Dominus and Dixit Dominus – In the Name of God, composed by Thomas Jennefelt in honor of the “Women in Black”.
From 2022 to 2024, Čolak gave more than 100 concerts in elderly homes throughout Vienna – a commitment especially close to his heart.
He is a prize winner of the International Singing Competition Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg in both 2024 and 2025. He has also been a four-year scholarship holder of the Stiftung Home Suisse “Madeleine de Blaireville”.
In 2025, Ejnar Čolak received the "Artist of the Year" award from the Society of Bosnian Academics in Austria.