In 1999 he made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Peter Niles in Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra followed by his La Scala debut in 2000 as Ned Keene in Britten's Peter Grimes. He is particularly known for his interpretation of the title role in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande which he has performed with many companies including the Bavarian State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Oper Leipzig, and Opéra National du Rhin. Other European appearances include Ubalde in Gluck's Armide at Opéra de Nice, the title role in Monteverdi's Orfeo at Opéra d'Avignon, and Frère Lèon in Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise at Opéra National de Paris. He has sung numerous roles with Flanders Opera, including Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Albert in Massenet's Werther, and the Steward in Jonathan Dove's Flight. In his native Canada, Polegato has sung Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Zurga in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles with Vancouver Opera. In the United States, he has sung with New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Michigan Opera Theatre as well as making many concert appearances and recordings with American orchestras. He made his Seattle Opera debut in 2005 as Henry Miles in Jake Heggie's The End of the Affair and returned to the company in 2007 as Orestes in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.
