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Mezzo-soprano

Cheryl Studer

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Born in Midland, Michigan, American soprano Cheryl Studer studied piano and viola and at the age of 12 began voice lessons. She graduated from the University of Music and Acting in Vienna, where she studied with Hans Hotter.
Her career took off in 1979 when Seiji Ozawa offered her a series of concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has appeared regularly in leading opera houses (La Scala, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera New York, Vienna State Opera, Grand Opera of Paris), as well as with the most prestigious festivals such as Salzburg, Bayreuth, Pesaro and Munich. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestras of Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, London, Philadelphia, Academia of Santa Cecilia and others.
Her first appearance at Carnegie Hall was a recital in 1994, where she returned two years later with the Dresden Staatskapelle under the baton of Giuseppe Sinopoli performing Strauss' "Four Last Songs"
Her vast repertoire has included the roles of Aida and Arabella, performed at Covent Garden, Marshallin and Chrysothemis at the Salzburg Festival; Senta, Elisabeth, Elsa and Sieglinde for nine seasons of the Bayreuth Festival. Her US debut was at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Micaela in Carmen next to Placido Domingo in 1984. Her triumph as the Marshallin with the Vienna State Opera was followed by Ariadne auf Naxos (Japan tour), Der Rosenkavalier (Metropolitan), Frau ohne Schatten and Die Walküre in Vienna and Dresden, where she also performed Der Fliegende Holländer and Der Rosenkavalier, Tannhäuser in Hamburg, Munich and Rio de Janeiro, Elena (I Vespri Siciliani), Matilde (Guglielmo Tell), Odabella (Attila), all at Teatro alla Scala under Riccardo Muti. Mozart roles have included Donna Anna, Contessa, and Elettra (Idomeneo). She received rave reviews in Zurich when she sang Arabella in 2000.
Cheryl Studer has been honoured with many international prizes, including the Franz Schubert Institute Prize for her excellence in Lied performance, the High Fidelity Musical America Prize, the Grand Prix du Disque, the 1989 Maria Callas Prize for her superb performance as Sieglinde in Die Walküre (EMI) and as Empress in Frau ohne Schatten, and in 1992 the Edison Prize for her recording of Salome (Deutsche Grammophon). In the same year, she was awarded the International Classical Music Award as the best singer of the year (the first artist to receive this prize) followed by the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize in 1994. She has most recently been awarded the ‘Terras sem Sombre’ (2011) and the Ovation Award (2012) for her life's work in the arts. In addition to numerous nominations, she has won two Grammy Awards.
Cheryl Studer has been a fulltime Professor at the University of Music in Würzburg, Germany since 2003, where she teaches voice, stage craft, Opera Ensemble and audition training. She has staged productions of Ariadne auf Naxos and Il barbiere di Siviglia. She also gives Master Classes internationally ( Beijing, Seoul, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Los Angeles, Marseille, Athens ) and is often jury member for international voice competitions, including the Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens and  the Mt. Fuji International Opera Competition of Shizuoka.
Since 2011, Cheryl Studer has performed mezzo-soprano roles such as Gertrud in Haensel & Gretel and Adelaide (Arabella) at the Hamburg State Opera,  Nettie Fowler (Carousel) at Theater Basel, Mamma Lucia (Cavalleria Rusticana) at Opera Graz, with Live-Recording, and the Aufseherin  in the famed Chereau-production of Elektra under Barenboim at the State Opera of Berlin. In 2021, she sang the role of Tertullia in "Die Verurteilung des Lukullus" at the State Theater of Stuttgart to great acclaim. She most recently performed the role of Mamma Lucia at the Autumn Festival Baden-Baden under Thomas Hengelbrock. Future engagements include performances at the State Opera of Berlin in 2023.
Cheryl Studer's singing career spans over four decades, beginning in 1976, and the 2022/23 season marks her 48th season of professional singing.

(Updated November 2022)

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