Biography

With a versatile voice that ranges from Verdi and Wagner to Puccini and Strauss, Astrid Kessler is a sought-after soprano on the international stages. She began her vocal training at the age of 16 at the International School Seoul in South Korea, and later studied at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, Berlin and Hannover.

Some of her recent engagements include singing Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre at Opera Cologne, Marie in Berg’s Wozzeck in São Paulo, Salome in Strauss’ Salome at Vienna Volksoper, Opera Antwerp and Teatro Massimo Palermo, Chrysothemis in Strauss’ Elektra in Cologne, Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff at Staatsoper Stuttgart, Arabella in Strauss’ Arabella at Teatro Real Madrid, Oper Leipzig und Oper Zürich, Rosalinde in Strauß’ Die Fledermaus at New National Theatre Tokyo, Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin at Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theatre Dortmund and at Forum Ludwigsburg, alongside Klaus Florian Vogt.

Astrid Kessler is a prize winner of the international Meistersinger competition Nürnberg 2018 in the German Fach, and has impressed audiences and critics alike with her portrayals of Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Feldmarschallin in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco and Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly..

She has worked with renowned conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Fabio Luisi, Manfred Honeck, Marc Piollet, Cornelius Meister, Dan Ettinger, Alexander Soddy, Axel Kober, Alejo Pérez, Friedrich Haider and Ulf Schirmer.