German-British tenor Kieran Carrel is equally at home on the opera stage, in concert, and in song, known for his expressive artistry and versatility. Raised bilingually, he draws on both his German and English heritage to shape his musical identity.
After winning second prize at the 2020 German National Singing Competition, he joined the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. There, he has performed leading roles including Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Walther (Tannhäuser), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), Froh (Das Rheingold), Narraboth (Salome), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), and Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). He has appeared as Rinaldo in Haydn’s Armida at the Bregenz Festival and debuted as Tamino at Cologne Opera. Future engagements include the Glyndebourne Festival and Zurich Opera House.
Carrel is equally active as a concert and recital singer. Highlights include Britten’s War Requiem (Staatstheater Darmstadt), Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (WDR and Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestras), and Haydn’s The Creation (Konzerthausorchester Berlin, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon). He has sung at Wigmore Hall and Pierre Boulez Saal, collaborating with artists such as Christoph Prégardien, András Schiff, and Kristian Bezuidenhout. Recent debuts include the MA Festival Bruges and Schubertiade Schwarzenberg.
He studied with Christoph Prégardien in Cologne and Neil Mackie at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and received further mentorship from Thomas Hampson and Hartmut Höll through the Heidelberger Liedacademy.
„Bizets Opern-Klassiker mit einer spektakulären Sophie Rennert. Stolz, verletzlich und mit starker Wirkung […]“
Austrian mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert is among the most distinguished artists of her generation. Born into a musical family, she began singing at twelve with her mother, soprano Sigrid Rennert, and later studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Karlheinz Hanser and Charles Spencer. She refined her artistry in masterclasses with Brigitte Fassbaender, Ann Murray, and Helmut Deutsch.
Her operatic repertoire includes Carmen, Dorabella, Donna Elvira, Cherubino, Ruggiero, Nicklausse, Orlofsky, Rosina, Hänsel, Angelina, and Charlotte. Engagements have taken her to the Theater an der Wien, Nationaltheater Mannheim, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, and the Utrecht Early Music Festival.
A frequent guest at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and Hohenems, she is celebrated for her expressive Lied interpretations. Her concert repertoire spans Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and works by Mahler, alongside baroque and contemporary roles such as Irene (Vivaldi’s Tamerlano), Piacere (Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno), and Harper Pitt (Eötvös’ Angels in America).
Rennert has collaborated with leading conductors including David Afkham, Ivor Bolton, Semyon Bychkov, Ottavio Dantone, Ádám Fischer, Philippe Jordan, Joanna Mallwitz, Jordi Savall, Andreas Spering, Franz Welser-Möst, and Simone Young, performing with orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Her recordings include Brahms Lieder (Hyperion), Handel’s Lotario, Vivaldi’s Tamerlano, and Von den Göttern weiß ich nichts with works by Uli Rennert. A laureate of the International Mozart Competition Salzburg, she also received the Second Prize and Audience Prize at the Cesti Competition in Innsbruck.
The young Austrian bass-baritone Alexander Grassauer studied voice with Prof. Karlheinz Hanser and Lied interpretation with Prof. Florian Boesch at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He received further artistic guidance in masterclasses with KS Elīna Garanča, Ramon Vargas and Robert Holl.
Following early operatic appearances as Masetto (Don Giovanni), the Marquis (La Traviata) and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Grassauer was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich from 2019 to 2024. His roles there included Leporello, Don Basilio, Alidoro, Count Walter and Frank. Guest engagements have taken him to the Semperoper Dresden, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Wiener Kammeroper, and on tour to Shanghai with Teatro alla Scala. At the 2024 Bayreuth Festival, he made his debut as Hermann Ortel in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and as Melot in Tristan und Isolde.
In the 2025/26 season, Grassauer returns to the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich for productions of L’elisir d’amore and Hänsel und Gretel. He appears as Don Fernando in Fidelio at both the Bavarian State Opera and the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw. At the Semperoper Dresden, he performs the role of the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte as well as in a new production of Luigi Nono’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze. A highlight of the season is his return to the Bayreuth Festival, where he sings Donner in Das Rheingold under the baton of Christian Thielemann.
In addition to his operatic work, Grassauer is also in high demand as a concert soloist. He has performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Salzburg, Bangkok and Lisbon, and has appeared with Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s St Paul at Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus. During the 2025/26 season, he sings Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli, Franz Schmidt’s The Book with Seven Seals under Fabio Luisi, and Mozart’s Requiem in Porto, Monte Carlo and Vienna. Alexander Grassauer will make his debut with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig performing Mendelssohn’s Walpurgisnacht under the baton of Andris Nelsons. He will also perform Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in Milan.
Deeply committed to Lied, Grassauer will give recitals in Stuttgart and Nuremberg during the season. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, including prizes at the Hugo Wolf Lied Competition in Stuttgart, the Emmerich Smola Prize of SWR, the International Brahms Competition, and the Otto Edelmann Competition in Vienna.
From the pinnacle of the violin elite as a soloist and chamber musician to her roles as artistic director and esteemed professor, Julia Fischer embodies artistic versatility in perfection. With her extraordinary virtuosity, musical passion, and great diversity, she has carved out a unique place among the greats of music. She has been honored with numerous prestigious awards such as the Federal Cross of Merit, the German Culture Prize, and the Bavarian Maximilian Order, recognizing her role as an outstanding cultural ambassador. She is also sought after for cross-cultural events, having recently performed at the 2023 Nobel Prize ceremony.
Early in her career, Julia Fischer set a milestone by winning first prize at the international Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 1995. Since then, she has conquered the world’s stages, guest-performing with the most renowned orchestras and collaborating with prominent conductors.
As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Julia Fischer has forged close musical partnerships with Yulianna Avdeeva, Jan Lisiecki, Daniel Müller-Schott, and her own quartet with Nils Mönkemeyer, Alexander Sitkovetsky, and Benjamin Nyffenegger. She leads orchestras such as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra from the first desk. Since 2024, she has also taken on the artistic direction of the »Boswiler Sommer« festival in Switzerland.
Julia Fischer’s exceptional talent is also recognized in numerous recordings. She has been awarded significant prizes such as the BBC Music Magazine Award, the Gramophone Award, and the German Record Critics’ Prize. Since 2017, she has presented her masterpieces exclusively on the JF CLUB, her own platform where she offers her latest recordings and personal insights into her work.
Not only a celebrated violinist, Julia Fischer takes her role as a mentor seriously. Through masterclasses and the founding of the Kindersinfoniker, she opens doors for the youngest musicians to the world of classical music.
Julia Fischer began her musical education at the age of three, receiving violin lessons and shortly thereafter piano lessons from her mother Viera Fischer. At nine, she became a junior student of the renowned violin professor Ana Chumachenco, whose position she has since taken over as professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.
Playing on her violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini from 1742 and a modern violin by Philipp Augustin from 2018, Julia Fischer brings music to life.
For a short biography, please contact Elisabeth Well
