Jan Novotny

Born in 1978 (or eventually early in 1979) in Venezuela to German parents, he grew up in Erlangen and studied in Berlin. He began his tenor career in 2007 in Hildesheim, and came to the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater in Görlitz in 2008 (first as a guest, a year later as a regular member). He soon became a favorite with the local audience, who in 2012 elected him in their annual choice of the most beloved theater artist in town. He sang notably Wenzel Strapinski (in Kleider machen Leute by Zemlinsky) and Paul (in Die tote Stadt).

In March 2013, he ventured into local politics and became the local Görlitz leader of Germany's left-wing party Die Linke, a honorary post. Then, something must have gone terribly wrong; the piece of news about his election into party chairmanship is the first and last one about his political activity, which was obviously extremely short-lived; he left the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater a few months later, in summer 2015; after that, a few more operetta performances and concerts around Eastern Germany (Nordhausen, Sondershausen, Chemnitz) until October 2016. And then he seems to have evaporated: his Operabase page deserted, no more activities on Facebook after 2016, his website defunct, no information about any appearances anywhere.

Reference 1: Sächsische Zeitung, 24 March 2015; reference 2, reference 3; reference 4: Harz Kurier, 17 December 2015; reference 5
Picture source