Ulrike Mayer

The mezzo-soprano not only has a beguilingly beautiful timbre, she is also adept at narratively interpreting the lyrics. […] Ulrike Mayer lends the evening a broad, suspenseful arc. Deutschlandfunk

Ulrike Mayer’s velvety rich mezzo-soprano, full of lyrical warmth, is matched by her outstanding gift for theatrical interpretation. As a permanent member of the ensemble at Theater Bremen, she regularly takes on major roles in her field such as Dorabella, Cherubino, Hänsel, Carmen, and Oreste. In recent years, the singer has also internationally established herself as a versatile concert soloist in addition to appearing in numerous opera roles, including at the Ruhrtriennale, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, the Schwetzingen Festival, Bregenz Festspiele, and the Opéra Bastille and Opéra Comique in Paris. Further guest engagements have taken her to the Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg, to the Kurt Weill Fest Dessau, and to the Scottish Opera, where she made her acclaimed debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, for which she was nominated as singer of the year in 2011 by Opernwelt magazine.

After the mezzo-soprano’s critically acclaimed performances in recent seasons as Lazuli in Chabrier’s L’étoile, as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina, as Gianetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Composer in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and her own recitals at her home theatre with works by Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten, Kurt Weill, and Joseph Marx, in the 2023/24 season she will appear as Public Opinion in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly, and as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito.

As a concert soloist and lieder singer, Ulrike Mayer is a regular guest at renowned concert halls such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie Berlin, the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid, as well as at festivals such as the Weimar Kunstfest, Magdeburg’s Telemann Festival, and Mannheimer Mozartsommer. As a soloist she has been invited to perform with the Bochumer Symphoniker, SWR Sinfonieorchester, Dresdner Sinfoniker, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, the Münchner Symphoniker, Lautten Compagney Berlin, and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Ulrike Mayer has also worked with conductors such as Kurt Masur, Alessandro De Marchi, Andreas Spering, Miguel Gómez-Martínez, and Hartmut Haenchen.

Born in Stuttgart, she studied with Thomas Quasthoff at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and then with Klesie Kelly at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, where she completed her studies with a concert exam. She is the recipient of numerous grants and international prizes, including first prize at the “Euriade Vocal Concours” in Holland and at the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg’s competition. During her studies she was engaged by Theater Magdeburg, whose ensemble she was a member of until 2009. A high point of this engagement was the production of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (directed by Andreas Kriegenburg and nominated for German theatre award “Der Faust”), in which she sang Orpheus.

2023/24 season

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