Hip-hop and opera? Singer Jacub Jozef Orlinski is a breakdancing countertenor

He sings opera, is the founder of a breakdance crew and works as a model for Nike and Levi’s

Orlinski epitomises the millennial spirit of breaking stereotypes and hopes to make a hip-hop opera

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Polish opera singer and breakdancer Jakub Jozef Orlinski in his dressing room in Paris. He dreams of creating a hip-hop opera. Photo: Eric Feferberg/AFP

Published: 8:00pm, 22 Dec 2019Updated: 8:00pm, 22 Dec 2019

Opera singer and breakdancer – two words you might think would never go together. But the boyishly athletic Polish countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski manages to do both to the very highest level – though not yet at the same time.

The 29-year-old singer with the angelic voice is the rising star of classical music, named Gramophone magazine’s young artist of the year after a run of triumphant performances in concert halls and opera house across the globe.

He is also a founder member of the hip-hop collective Skill Fanatikz Crew, and his pop star good looks have landed him modelling contracts with Nike and Levi’s as well as the cover of Vogue.

Orlinski’s love of rap, skateboarding and 18th-century music has seen him hailed as the first “baroque ‘n’ roll” star. He often warms up for recitals by doing a few backflips backstage. He created a sensation this summer when he took the female lead in Handel’s Rinaldo at Glyndebourne in the UK.

His high countertenor voice means that he was capable of singing the demanding role – which meant spending three hours on the stage of the English opera house – when the American mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong had to pull out.