ARTISTS

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ANNA BERNREITNER
Stage Director
Stage director Anna Bernreitner studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2011, she founded OPER RUND UM, a group of artists who have specialized in staging operas in unusual locations. Over the past decade, Bernreitner has produced and directed various pieces in unconventional settings with OPER RUND UM. The group experiments with forms and structures, showcasing opera in swimming pools, abandoned factory buildings, deep in the forest, or directly on the streets. For her work with OPER RUND UM, Bernreitner was awarded the Cultural Recognition Prize of Lower Austria in 2017, as well as the Austrian Music Theatre Prize in 2019. She has directed several children's operas at the Theater an der Wien and "The Slippers" by Tchaikovsky at the Theater für Niedersachsen. Bernreitner has collaborated on multiple occasions with the Wir sind Wien.Festival. Additionally, she has worked at the prestigious Salzburg Festival, directed for Jeunesse Wien, and performed at the Philharmonie Luxembourg. In the summer of 2021, she was responsible for the staging of the Vienna State Opera's tour bus in cooperation with the Donauinselfest Wien. For the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, she directed pop-up scenes in public spaces for the opening celebration of the 2021/22 season, as well as the children's opera "Max and the Superheroes." In France, her recent work includes "The Magic Flute" at the Opéra National de Lorraine and Opéra National Montpellier. At the Theater Bielefeld, she directed "The Abduction from the Seraglio," and at the Theater Magdeburg, "The Golden Cockerel" and "The Love for Three Oranges," a co-production with the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Theater St. Gallen. In the summer of 2023, she worked open-air once again in Braunschweig, staging the opera "Tosca" at the Burgplatz Open Air. Her most recent productions were "La Bohème" at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck and "The Fairy Queen" by Purcell, another outdoor project in Switzerland for Theater St. Gallen at an altitude of 1400 meters in the Swiss Alps. Highlights of the 2024/25 season include the revival of "The Love for Three Oranges" at Theater St. Gallen, a new production of "Indigo and the 23 Robbers" at the Johann Strauß Festival in Vienna, and "Schön ist die Welt" at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck. In November 2021, her staging of "Proserpina" by Wolfgang Rihm premiered at the Neue Oper Wien and was awarded the Götz Friedrich Prize.

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SARAH GILFORD
Soprano
Praised for her crystal-clear voice, British soprano Sarah Gilford is a recent Song Prize finalist at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2021 and an alumnus of the prestigious Opernstudio at the Bayerische Staatsoper. In the 2021/2022 season, she was a member of the ensemble at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt. Sarah Gilford begins the new season as Juliette in Korngold's "Die tote Stadt" at the Bergen Opera in a new production staged by Calixto Bieito. In December, she can be heard as a soloist in Beethoven's "9th Symphony" alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Barbican Center before she joins the Armenian National Symphony Orchestra for a New Year´s gala concert. In Munich, she can be heard in Mahler´s "2nd Symphony" later this season. In the 2023/24 season, Sarah Gilford could be heard as Woglinde in Wagner’s "Götterdämmerung" at the Theater in Klagenfurt as well as in Handel's "Messiah", also at the Theater Klagenfurt. She also made her role debut as the Governess in Isabelle Kettle's new production of Britten's "The Turn of the Screw" at Theatre Royal in Bath. She sang Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma and also made her debut at the Hamburg State Opera as First Niece in "Peter Grimes" and her debut as Dalinda in Handel’s "Ariodante" with Les Arts Florissants under the baton of William Christie at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Highlights of previous seasons include Mendelssohn's "Elijah" with the Berlin Philharmonic and her debut as Sophie in "Werther" at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. She also made her debut at Wigmore Hall in London with pianist Ewa Danilewska. At the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, she sang Susanna in "Le Nozze di Figaro", Soprano I in Rihm’s "Jakob Lenz", and Gilda in "Rigoletto". In addition, she could be heard in recitals in Madrid, Rome, and London as part of the Imogen Cooper Musical Trust. At the Bavarian State Opera, Sarah Gilford performed roles including the title role in Thomas’s "Mignon" at the Cuvilliés Theatre, as Giannetta in "L’Elisir d’Amore", as Taumännchen in "Hänsel und Gretel", and as Barbarina in "Le Nozze di Figaro".

MARIE SMOLKA
Soprano
Soprano Marie Smolka was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Since the 2023/24 season, she has been a member of the ensemble at the Tyrolean Landestheater in Innsbruck, where she has performed the roles of the Countess in Mozart´s “Le nozze di Figaro”, Mimí in “La Bohéme”, and Simplicius in “Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend”. Her portrayal of Simplicius received high praise in the magazine Opernwelt, which described her as "an exceptional performer." In the 2024/25 season, she will have two more role debuts in Innsbruck, including Tatyana in “Eugene Onegin” and Frau in Schoenberg's “Von heute auf morgen”. In January 2025, she will make her debut at the Hamburg State Opera in “Epilog” and can be heard in Mozart's Requiem in Karlovy Vary and Prague. Marie Smolka regularly collaborates with conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Cornelius Meister, Antonello Manacorda, Joanna Mallwitz, and Yoel Gamzou. She has worked with directors such as Marina Abramović, Robert Carsen, Tobias Kratzer, Eva Maria Höckmayr, Tatjana Gürbaca, and Lydia Steier. During the 2022/23 season, she made her debut as Traviata in Marina Abramović's “7 Deaths of Maria Callas” at the Royal Theater in Amsterdam, in cooperation with the Bavarian State Opera Munich. From 2021 to 2023, Marie Smolka was a member of the ensemble in Bremen, where she performed as Pamina, Angel (“Angels in America”), and Poppea (“L'incoronazione di Poppea”). Furthermore, she has performed at prestigious venues, including the Berlin State Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Baden-Baden, Hanover State Opera, Grand Théâtre de Sarrebourg, Teatro Massimo Palermo, and Saarländisches Staatstheater.

SERAFINA STARKE
Soprano
German soprano Serafina Starke made her opera debut at the age of 13 in the role of Flora in Britten's "The turn of the screw". A lot has happened since then: in 2023, she made her debut at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival in Strauss' “Die Frau ohne Schatten” under the baton of Kirill Petrenko as well as at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich as Queen of the Night in the children's opera “Max und die Superheld:innen”. At the Händelfestspiele Halle 2024, she appeared as Oriana in "Amadigi di Gaula". Serafina Starke currently is a member of the International Opera Studio of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden. In summer 2022, she was a participant of the Salzburg Festival's Young Singers Project, where she returned a year later as Barbarina in ‘Le nozze di Figaro’. Her repertoire as a concert singer includes Mozart's ‘Requiem’, ‘Exsultate, jubilate’ and Haydn's ‘Creation’. In 2023, she sang the first soprano solo in Mozart's ‘Great Mass in C minor’ with the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears and the soprano solo in Verdi's ‘Te deum’ (‘Quattro pezzi sacri’) at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Riccardo Muti. She has also worked with the Berlin Philharmonic and conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Raphaël Pichon and Leopold Hager. Furthermore, she is an accomplished lieder singer: together with pianist Rebeka Stojkoska, she was awarded 3rd prize at the Paula Salomon-Lindberg competition ‘Das Lied’. Serafina Starke is a fellow of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation Salzburg and the Gianna Szel Study Foundation. She won the Dostal Operetta Competition in 2022 and the Fritz Wunderlich Prize in 2021. Most recently, she won the Sweet Spot Award at the ARD Competition 2024 in Munich.

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EMA NIKOLOVSKA
Mezzo-soprano
Macedonian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska completed her Master's in Voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she also completed the Opera Course. She was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019-2022 and in 2022 she became a recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. She is an Alumna of the International Opera Studio at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin where in 2023 she made her role debut as Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier". She returns in the 2024/25 season for Stefano in "Romeo et Juliette". In the 2023/24 season she made her house and role debut as the Fox in Janáček's "The Cunning Little Vixen" at the Canadian Opera Company and her debut at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Theatre singing the lead role in George Benjamin's "Picture a Day Like This", a role she will revive this season at the Opera du Rhin, Strasbourg. In concert she will make her debut in Japan singing Mozart arias with the NHK Symphony and Petr Popelka. Other concerts this season include Debussy's "La Damoiselle Elue" with George Benjamin and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mozart's "Davide Penitente" at the Vicenza Festival conducted by Andras Schiff. Already a celebrated recitalist, in the 2023/24 season her partners included Martha Argerich, Sir András Schiff , Charles Richard-Hamelin and Sean Shibe. She made her debut recital tour in the U.S. and Canada, including Carnegie Hall, and was a Featured Artist at Wigmore Hall. Her 2024/25 recitals include Paris, Berlin, Klosters, Hamburg, Luxembourg, Amsterdam and a return to Wigmore Hall.

YAJIE ZHANG
Mezzo-soprano
Standing out in opera, concert and song recitals alike with her colourful timbre, flawless voice, and remarkable receptivity, the young mezzo-soprano is critically acclaimed as a "voice that is something to look out for.” (Operawire). Yajie Zhang is a member of the ensemble at Oper Leipzig since the 2022/23 season. In Leipzig, she is appearing as Hänsel in Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel", Suzuki in "Madama Butterfly", Page in Strauss' "Salome" and other roles. At the Opéra National de Paris, she appears in John Adams' "Nixon in China" under the baton of music director Gustavo Dudamel, alongside Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson. Concert performances are taking her to Oxford, Helsinki, Berlin and the Naantali Festival. In May 2023, Yajie will appear in the world premiere of Donizetti's re-discovered opera "Dalinda" at the Berlin Konzerthaus where, in 2022, she had a critically acclaimed appearance in the lead role of Massenet's "Zanetto". Recent season highlights included Yajie Zhang's return to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Rossini's "La Cenerentola" and Frank Castorf's production of Braunfels' "Die Vögel", as well as appearances in the new productions of G.F. Haaas' opera "Thomas", in "Parsifal" by Richard Wagner, in Weber's "Der Freischütz" and "The Cunning Little Vixen" by Leoš Janáček. A member of the Young Singers Programme at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since the 2020/21 season, she sang Dryade in Strauss’ "Ariadne auf Naxos", and Kitchen Boy in Dvořák's "Rusalka" among other roles. Yajie Zhang gave her opera debut as Maddalena in Verdi’s "Rigoletto" with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre. Since then, she has performed at Staatstheater Braunschweig, Theater Trier, and at the NCPA in Beijing, where she recently portrayed Nicklausse/Muse in Offenbach’s "Les Contes d‘Hoffmann" under Pinchas Steinberg. She returned to Beijing in the role of Cherubino in Mozart’s "Le Nozze di Figaro". As a recipient of fellowships from the Richard Wagner Foundation (2016) and the Lied Akademie Heidelberger Frühling (2019), she has performed song recitals at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Schleswig- Holstein Musikfestival, Berlin's Pierre Boulez Hall, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing. An avid concert and oratorio singer, Yajie Zhang sang Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 9" with the China Philharmonic Orchestra under Yu Long at the Beijing Music Festival in 2019, followed by a spectacular jump-in with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Jukka-Pekka Saraste with Mahler’s "Rückert Lieder". That same year, she appeared as a guest with the Shanghai Camerata under David Stern at the Shanghai Baroque Festival. She opened the 2020/21 season with concerts at the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts, performing works by Zemlinsky and Mahler alongside musicians of the Bavarian State Orchestra and Peter Hirsch. The young mezzo-soprano has received numerous awards at various competitions, including the 2018 DEBUT Classical Singing Competition, the 2019 song competition "Das Lied" in Heidelberg, the Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, and the International Opera Competition in Portofino, Italy. By 2017, she had already attracted international attention as the youngest contestant at the International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch, where she was awarded the Grand Prix as well as the Opera and Junior Jury prizes. Born in the Anhui province of China, Yajie Zhang began her vocal studies in Shanghai, during which time she was also a member of the Zhou Xiao Yan Opera Centre. In 2020 she completed her studies in Hannover with Marek Rzepka and Justus Zeyen, complemented by master classes with Brigitte Fassbaender, Thomas Hampson, Roman Trekel, Wolfram Rieger, Burkhard Kehring, Hartmut Höll, and Thomas Quasthoff.

NOA BEINART
Contralto
Noa Beinart was born in Tel Aviv and between 2020-2023 she was a member of the Ensemble at the Wiener Staatsoper. Previously, she was a member of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper and is a graduate of the Hanns Eisler in Berlin. This season, Noa will return to the Wiener Staatsoper as Gaea "Daphne" conducted by Sebastian Weigle, and she will make her debuts at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as 1st Magd in Christof Loy's new production of "Elektra" conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano and at the Opernhaus Zürich, where she will appear as Amastre in Handel's "Serse" and as Schwertleite "Die Walküre"; she will also make her debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Erda in a concert performance of "Das Rheingold" conducted by Simone Young and she will return to the Bayerische Staatsoper as 1st Magd in "Elektra" and as Hannah in Tobias Kratzer's new production of "The Passenger" conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Noa recently made her debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin as 1st Norn in "Götterdämmerung" in Dmitri Tcherniakov’s new production of Wagner's The Ring Cycle conducted by Christian Thielemann - elsewhere, Noa’s engagements have included Grimgerde in "Die Walküre" at the Opéra National de Paris conducted by Philippe Jordan and in the summer 2021 she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival, as 2nd Magd in "Elektra" conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and returned in summer 2022 as Dritte Dame in a new production of "Die Zauberflöte". Johanna Herbst Artist Management has taken over Noa Beinart's concert representation worldwide, please direct all other inquiries to Owl Artist Management.

ELMAR HAUSER
Countertenor
After his successful debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as "Michael" in G. F. Haas' chamber opera "Thomas" in June 2023, the 2023/24 season brought some important role and house debuts for countertenor Elmar Hauser. The Swiss native could be seen at the Zurich Opera House in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for children and as "Hanno Buddenbrook" in the world premiere of Ludger Vollmer's "Buddenbrooks" at the Kiel Theatre. In addition to concert performances with the Accademia di Monaco and La Fontaine, he participated in the production "Der Teufel im Lift" at the Neukölln Opera. Furthermore, he worked on his own artistic projects, such as an interdisciplinary music theater project on ecological issues with the collective OTTER OTTER OTTER, his song programs "Nacht und Träume" and "Histoires naturelles". In the current season, Elmar Hauser is making further role and house debuts: At Bern Theatre, he sings the roles of "Sorceress" and "Spirit" in Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas". At Munich´s Prinzregententheater, he takes on the role of "1st Angel/Boy" in George Benjamin's "Written on Skin". He can also be heard in numerous song recitals with his solo program "Pilgrimage” and concerts at the Hidalgo Festival or at Munich´s Cuvilliés Theatre. In 2021, Elmar Hauser completed his Bachelor's degree at the Zurich University of the Arts with honors under Werner Güra and in 2023, he completed his Master's degree at the Theater Academy August Everding in the vocal classes of Christiane Iven and Sabine Lahm. He was a scholarship holder of the Friedl-Wald Foundation, the Johann-Adolph-Hasse-Gesellschaft Munich, and Yehudi Menuhin "Live Music Now" Munich e.V. In 2024, Elmar Hauser won the first prize in the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino CLIP competition in Portofino.

MARKUS BRÜCK
Baritone
Baritone Markus Brück recently earned rave reviews for his portrayal of Alberich in Tobias Kratzer's new production of "Rheingold" at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Markus Brück studied in Cologne and Mannheim. After engagements at the Hagen Theatre, the Kaiserslautern Theatre and the Theatre in Wiesbaden, he became a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2001 and has held the title of Kammersänger of the Deutsche Oper since 2011. He has made guest appearances at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Opéra national de Paris, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as at the Bregenz and Salzburg Festivals. In the 2024/25 season, he can be heard as Dreieinigkeitsmoses in a new production of "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny", in the revival of "Rheingold" at the Bavarian State Opera or as Besenbinder in "Hänsel und Gretel" at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Markus Brück has appeared as a concert soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Stravinsky's "Requiem canticles" and Mahler's "Das klagende Lied" under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski. He performed "Ein Deutsches Requiem" with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles in Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as with Zubin Mehta at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia under Omer Meir Wellber.

GABRIEL ROLLINSON
Baritone
The German-American baritone Gabriel Rollinson is known for his "robust-virile" sound (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and his "attractive, impressive stage presence" (Opera News). He has already been awarded several prizes in prestigious competitions, such as the Song Prize of the 11th International Stanisław Moniuszko Competition and the Song Prize of the Mirjam Helin Competition 2024. Gabriel Rollinson gained experience on the leading opera and concert stages of Europe, including the Bavarian State Opera, the Bregenz Festival, the Berlin State Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, the George Enescu Festival, the Eppaner Lied Sommer, and the Schubertiada in Vilabertran. He has worked with renowned conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Johannes Debus, and Sebastian Weigle. In the 2024/25 season, Gabriel Rollinson will perform Beethoven's "Missa solemnis" under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock in Hamburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Luxembourg, and Dortmund. He can be heard in recital - accompanied by Hartmut Höll on the piano - in Berg and Frankfurt and as a soloist in Beethoven's "9th Symphony". Gabriel Rollinson has already recorded several albums with the Bavarian Radio under the direction of Ivan Repušić and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, including the "St. John Passion" by composer Damijan Močnik and "Ernani" by Giuseppe Verdi. In July 2024, his first solo album with songs by the American composer William Grant Still was released on cpo. Gabriel Rollinson has also performed in numerous world premieres, including Micha Hamel's "Caruso a Cuba" at the Dutch National Opera or Elisabeth Naske's "The Star That Could Not Shine" at the Salzburg Festival. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the August Everding Theater Academy in Munich, and the Karlsruhe University of Music with Hartmut Höll and Mitsuko Shirai. He gained artistic inspiration at the Heidelberger Frühling Song Academy with Thomas Hampson and from artists such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Tobias Truniger, Michelle Breedt, Rudolf Piernay, Thomas Quasthoff, and Renée Fleming. After being a member of the opera studios at the Frankfurt Opera and the Bavarian State Opera (the latter with a scholarship from the New York Opera Foundation), he joined the ensemble of the Staatstheater Mainz in the 2023/24 season, where he has performed roles such as Silvio ("Pagliacci"), Hans ("The White Rose"), Metternich ("L’Aiglon"), and Ping ("Turandot"). Born in England, Gabriel Rollinson grew up in Germany and the USA, where he received his first musical impulses playing the cello and piano.
ABOUT

"Johanna Herbst Artist Management" focuses on a strategic and long-term career development, which includes a balance between private life and career - focused on the personal needs of the artists. These core values evolved through my experiences in the cultural sector in the last years. After two years at Centre Stage Artist Management, I worked as an Artist Manager at Künstlersekretariat am Gasteig in Munich from 2017. Other obligations of the past years were several summers in the artistic administration of the Salzburg Festival, as a trainee in the artist and repertoire department of Deutsche Grammophon, as well as many years as freelance marketing assistant for Unitel. At the Theaterakademie August Everding, I have been teaching as a lecturer for "Professionalization" since 2018.