Angelika Kirchschlager

Angelika Kirchschlager (born 1966 in Salzburg) is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer. In a relatively short time, Angelika Kirchschlager became one of the most sought after mezzo-sopranos in the opera, recognized for her dramatic skills as well as for her singing. She has been heard on all of the major opera stages of the world and has performed interpretations of Lieder and Oratorios.

Angelika Kirchschlager (born 1966 in Salzburg) is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer. In a relatively short time, Angelika Kirchschlager became one of the most sought after mezzo-sopranos in the opera, recognized for her dramatic skills as well as for her singing. She has been heard on all of the major opera stages of the world and has performed interpretations of Lieder and Oratorios. Kirchschlager's musical training began at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she went to the Vienna Music Academy, where she took voice lessons with Walter Berry. Her first engagements were at the Wiener Kammeroper and the Graz Opera House. Kirchschlager won the third prize in the prestigious International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in 1991 and became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1993.

She made her debut there with the role of Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. In 2002, she sang the title role in the world premiere of British composer Nicholas Maw's opera Sophie's Choice at the Royal Opera House in London. She also starred in a new production of Tales of Hoffmann in 2003. Kirchschlager has worked with many distinguished conductors, such as Claudio Abbado, Bertrand de Billy, Sir Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Christopher Hogwood, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Sanderling, and Sir Simon Rattle, and sung in many great opera houses around the world. She regularly gives recitals and is a regular guest at the annual Liederfestival Schubertiade Schwarzenberg in Vorarlberg/Austria, often accompanied by Austrian pianist Helmut Deutsch. From 2007 onwards Angelika Kirchschlager will be a guest professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg for two years. In June 2007 she was awarded the title of a Kammersängerin. Kirchschlager was married to Austrian baritone Hans Peter Kammerer.

She has a son, Felix, and they make their home in Vienna. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..