Baritone Svatopluk Sem is a graduate of the Conservatory in České Budějovice. Already during his studies, he was accepted into a permanent engagement at the South Bohemian Theatre, where he performed many roles of various nature.

He regularly appears at almost all opera stages in the Czech Republic, but especially at the National Theatre in Prague, where he has been in a permanent engagement since 2022. He has been a regular guest there in the past. He made his debut at the National Theatre for the first time in the role of the Devil (Martinů: Hry o Mariai) under the baton of J. Bělohlávek. Over the years, he has performed several dozen roles at the National Theatre, e.g. Don Giovanni (Mozart: Don Giovanni), Guglielmo (Mozart: Così fan tutte), Germont (Verdi: La Traviata), Escamillo (Bizet: Carmen), Sharpless (Puccini: Madama Butterfly), Klingsor (Wagner: Parsifal), Gérard (Giordano: Andrea Chénier), or the Revírník (Janáček: The Adventures of the Cunning Little Vixen).

In the 2015/2016 season, he completed a month-long tour of Japan with the Prague State Opera, in a production of La Traviata as Germont. In April 2016, he performed at the prestigious BBC Proms festival in London's Royal Albert Hall as Jaroslav Prus in a performance of Janáček's opera The Makropulos Affair with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, he also performed in L. Janáček's opera Jenůf as Starek.

We cannot forget his guest appearances on concert and opera stages abroad and his many years of collaboration with important conductors, including J. Bělohlávek, E. Fiore, T. Hanus, J. Hrůša, R. Jindra, T. Netopil, L. Pešek or J. Valčuha.

The countries where Svatopluk Sem has performed include, among many others, Japan, USA, Denmark, South Korea, China, Austria, Spain, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Norway, Italy or Great Britain accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Zlín, PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian National Philharmonic in Budapest or BBC Symphony Orchestra London, where he was a regular guest for several years. In 2016, he took on the role of the Revírník (Cunning Fox) at the Teatro Regio di Torino, directed by R. Carsen. In the same role, he made his debut as a quick substitute at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo in 2025.

He is also a frequent guest at prestigious international music and opera festivals – BBC Proms, Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland), IHF Český Krumlov, IHF Dvořák's Prague, IHF Prague Spring, Golden Prague, or MOF Smetana's Litomyšl. In 2017, he also performed at the Artsfestival in Hong Kong and Shanghai with Janáček's opera The Makropulos Affair. In 2018, he was twice part of the European opera project Opera Vision, where he performed live in the opera Libuše as Přemysl (National Theatre Prague) and as the Revírník in Janáček's The Clever Fox (National Theatre Brno).

In addition to his concert activities, he also participated in the recording of Smetana's The Bartered Bride in the role of Krušina with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by J. Bělohlávek for the Harmonia Mundi record company.

Svatopluk Sem is the recipient of a number of prestigious opera awards - including the Opera+ 2017 Opera Portal Award, the Thalia 2017 Award (for his portrayal of Giorgio Germont in La Traviata) and the Moravian-Silesian Amber 2017 Award (for the role of Kalina from the opera The Secret). He has won the Karel Roden Award in České Budějovice four times.

In 2024, he was part of the successful concert guest performance of the National Theatre Prague in Savonlinna, Finland at the prestigious opera festival. He also made his debut at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava in the role of the Reverend. In October 2024, he was honored to sing the opening concert of the Houston Philharmonic's new season in the USA with Bohemian Rhapsody by B. Martinů, conducted by the famous Slovak conductor Juraj Valčuha. In 2024, he was again shortlisted for the prestigious Thalia Award 2023 for the role of Gianni Schicchi in the opera of the same name, which was performed at the National Theatre in Prague, directed by David Radok.