During his studies he had already impressed by winning the very first edition of the Cristina Deutekom Concours, a prestigous classical music competition in The Netherlands.
After graduating in 1988 he began studying with the Italian singing coach Ettore Campogagliani and Dutch educator Margreet Honig
Henk Poort has performed with several opera houses throughout Europe and has built up an extensive repertoire. His first engagement started at the Ulm and Krefeld Opera House (Germany) where for the first time he was offered the chance to perform leading roles in Verdí’s famous operas: Macbeth, Rigoletto, Nabucco and Germont (Traviata). But also Escamillo (‘Carmen’), André Thorel (Massenets ‘Thérèse’) and the title roles in ‘Eugen Onegin’ and ‘Guillaume Tell’.
Henk Poort has also appeared as guest performer at The Dutch Opera, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, The Hessen State Theatre in Wiesbaden, de Nationale Reisopera (Dutch touring company), de VARA (Opera-matinee in het Amsterdamse Concertgebouw) and the Bern Opera.
During this period he added ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’, Sharpless in ‘Madame Butterfly’, Luna in ‘Il Trovatore’, Renato in ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ and Gérard in ‘Andrea Chenier’ to his repertoire.
In the sections Oratorium and Vocal Symphonic Music Henk Poort’s name is often found in Brahms’ Requiem and Fauré’s Requiem, The Creation (Die Schöpfung) by Haydn and Carmina Burana by Orff.
His role as Jean Valjean in ‘Les Miserables’ and his title role in ‘The Phantom op the Opera’ increased his popularity among a wider audience.
After his performance as the Jewish milkman Tevye in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ he was approached on numerous occasions by directors such as Harold Prince and producers such as Cameron Mackintosh. Still the baritone preferred to combine his work as a musical actor with his love for the opera and to continue working with conductors such as Edo de Waart, Lawrence Renes, Yakov Kreitzberg, Gabriele Bellini, Miguel-Angel Gomez Martinez and Alexander Rahbari
As an actor Henk Poort also has many credits to his name and is frequently asked to appear on TV shows and soaps (e.g. ‘Russen’). In 2006 the movie Nachtrit came out and Kicks is expected to be released in February 2007. Both films starring Henk Poort