Born in Frankfurt am Main, coloratura soprano Alina Wunderlin has established herself as a versatile stage artist, renowned for her exceptional vocal brilliance and stylistic versatility. Her repertoire spans from Renaissance and Baroque works through the French and Italian traditions to contemporary music. She attracted international attention in the summer of 2024 when she stepped in at short notice as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Glyndebourne Festival.
In the 2025/26 season, Alina makes her house debut at the Theater an der Wien as Adele in a new production of Die Fledermaus (directed by Stefan Herheim, conducted by Petr Popelka). As the Queen of the Night, she will appear at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, the Semperoper Dresden, and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. On the concert stage, she will perform Berg’s Lulu Suite and Kurt Weill’s Der neue Orpheus at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Ingo Metzmacher. She makes her role debut as Dorinda in Handel’s Orlando with Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski in Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées) and Barcelona (Liceu). In the summer of 2026, she returns to Glyndebourne as Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) in a new production by Laurent Pelly, conducted by Robin Ticciati.
In the past season, she made successful debuts as Ännchen (Der Freischütz) at the Hamburg State Opera and as Morgana (Alcina) at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich. She also appeared as the Queen of the Night at the Komische Oper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and the Stuttgart State Opera. On tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre, she sang Adele (Die Fledermaus) at venues including the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Liceu in Barcelona, and the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville. At the Wiener Symphoniker’s Prater Picnic, Alina performed alongside Thomas Quasthoff in a programme of opera, musical theatre, and jazz.
Earlier career highlights include her song recital Grenzgänge at the Cologne Broadcasting House of Deutschlandfunk, Poulenc’s Gloria and Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Wiener Konzerthaus under Tobias Wögerer, Glière’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano in Belgrade with Gabriel Feltz, several CD recordings of Brahms songs with pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr, and a recording of Carmina Burana under Paavo Järvi with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
Alongside opera and concert work, Alina is deeply devoted to the art song. Her programmes often focus on rarely performed works and pieces by female composers. She frequently expands the classical repertoire with chanson or pop elements, moving effortlessly between genres.
Alina has collaborated with conductors such as Marc Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe, Paavo Järvi, Rubén Dubrovsky, Konstantin Trinks, and Yoel Gamzou, as well as with stage directors including Lydia Steier, Josef E. Köpplinger, Ben Baur, Andreas Kriegenburg, and Peter Konwitschny.
She initially studied musicology in Frankfurt before transferring to the Mannheim University of Music to study voice and vocal pedagogy with Rudolf Piernay and Snežana Stamenković. She received important inspiration for contemporary repertoire from Caroline Melzer. While still a student, she was a scholarship holder of Live Music Now Yehudi Menuhin, the Richard Wagner Association in Heidelberg, and the Handel Academy in Karlsruhe. She was a prizewinner at the Salomon Lindberg Song Competition in Berlin and received a special award at the Concours International de Chant de Marmande.
Danish-New Zealand soprano Louise McClelland Jacobsen is establishing herself as a versatile and expressive artist with a repertoire spanning opera, oratorio, song, and contemporary music. She made her operatic debut at the Royal Danish Opera as the Fifth Maid in Strauss’ Elektra, followed by roles including Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Aase (Drot og Marsk), the High Priestess (Aida), Lauretta (Il Trittico), and the title role in the world premiere of Bent Sørensen’s Asle og Alida, where her performance was praised for its “stratospheric pianissimi” (Bachtrack).
She graduated with distinction from the Opera Academy of the Royal Danish Opera, studying with Helene Gjerris, and previously trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. She has participated in masterclasses with artists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Bo Skovhus, and Vivica Genaux.
As a soloist, she has appeared with leading ensembles including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and Theatre of Voices. In 2025 she made her debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae.
Highlights ahead include her role debut as the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro) at Opera Hedeland, an ensemble engagement at the Semperoper Dresden featuring roles such as Pamina, Gretel, and Gerda in Hans Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen, a guest performance in Madrid with Fabio Luisi in Franz Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, and her debut as Norina (Don Pasquale) at the Royal Danish Opera.
Alongside opera, Louise is an avid chamber musician, performing with her ensemble Trio Doré. Her artistry has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Prize, the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize, and the 2025 Aalborg Opera Prize.
