The German bass, Franz-Josef Selig, first studied church music at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Cologne. After graduating, he changed to the voice class under Claudio Nicolai. Already during his voice studies, he gave numerous concerts and was permanently engaged at the Aalto Theatre, Essen, where he was member at the ensemble until 1995. In 1992, he was awarded the "Aalto Stage Prize for Young Artists“.